معرفی
Chang Zhao is Assistant Professor of Ecosystem Services Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Agronomy Department at University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. She holds a PhD in Geography from University of Iowa (2018) and B.E. in Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering from Wuhan University. Zhao's research integrates geospatial science, remote sensing, and AI to quantify ecosystem services across agricultural and urban landscapes.
Her work develops machine learning and deep learning approaches to map and analyze pollination services, carbon storage dynamics, soil organic content, and invasive species distributions. Current projects examine spatiotemporal patterns of ecosystem service production and socioeconomic drivers of ecosystem service utilization.
Zhao leads multiple USDA and Florida Cattle Enhancement Board funded projects exploring carbon sequestration in grazing lands, high-throughput assessment of crop diseases, and AI-driven monitoring of invasive species. Her lab combines field observations, drone/satellite imagery, and socioeconomic data to create predictive models supporting sustainable land management decisions.
She teaches Ecosystem Services: Theory, Methods, and Practice and mentors graduate students in spatial data science applications for agriculture and natural resource management.
