Yanbing Chen

RESEARCH AREA

• Cartography, Multi-scale Visualization, Web Mapping, Information Visualization, User-Centered Study, GIScience Education

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2028 (Expected)
• M.S., Cartography and GIS, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2025
• B.S., Geography and Economics, McGill University, 2023

AFFILIATION

• Cartography Specialty Group, AAG (Student Director 2025-2026)
• UW Cartography Lab (CartLab)
• GISphere (Co-president)
• McGill Roger Tomlinson Lab for GIScience (Undergrad Alumni)
• McGill Geographic Information Center (Former Team Member)

SELECTED MAP GALLERY (More on Portfolio)

• [ArcGIS Pro | AI] ’Lyricscape of Hong Kong’
• [Power BI] “Wisconsin Car Crash Dashboard” – An Interactive Dashboard Map showing traffic accidents in Wisconsin.
• [Figma | Leaflet] “Forgotten Tongues: Interactive Atlas of Extinct Languages” – Mapping 3000 dying languages
• [Mapbox GL JS] “A historical storymap for California Gold Rush” – Story Map about history of Chinese immigrant in U.S.
• [ArcGIS Pro | AI] “To Incarcerate or to Educate?” – Cost of inmates in U.S. states with their spending on education.
• [ArcGIS Pro | AI] “Just Another Day in America” – The Map designed for UW-Cartography Lab 2024 Map Challenge.
• [ArcGIS Pro | AI] “Behind Bars” – A map showcasing a comparison of incarceration rates across U.S. states.
• [ArcGIS Pro | AI] “Vermont Trails” – A Vermont Hiking Guide.
• [ArcMap] “Chinese Restaurants in Barbados” – The Map designed for Project: Chinese Immigrants in Barbados.

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-reviewed Journals

• Where are GIScience Faculty Hired from? Analyzing Faculty Mobility and Research Themes Through Hiring Networks. Accepted for publication in Cartography and Geographic Information Science Journal (CaGIS).
• Gu, Z., Li, W., Zhou, B., Wang, Y., Chen, Y., Ye, S., Wang, K., Gu, H. and Kang, Y. (2025), GISphere Knowledge Graph for Geography Education: Recommending Graduate Geographic Information System/Science Programs. Transactions in GIS, 29: e13283.
• Sengupta, R., Vankeerberghen, G., Wen, R., Rao, J., Chen, Y. (2023). GIS‐enabled historiography to determine travel routes during the Western Han period via agent‐based models and least‐cost path analysis. Transactions in GIS, 27(4), 1090–1103.

Conference Proceedings

[C.1] Chen Y., Nelson. J., Kang Y. (2025). From PhD to Professor: Global Faculty Placement Trends in GIScience. Proceedings of International Cartography Conference 2025.
[C.2] Chen Y., Kang Y.(2024). Investigating Mobility and Research Themes through Faculty Hiring Network in GIScience. UCGIS Symposium 2024
[C.3] Chen Y., Kang Y.(2023). Investigating Demographics and Mobility through Faculty Hiring Network in GIScience. Spatial Knowledge and Information Canada 2023

CONFERENCE AND PRESENTATION

• An overview of current GIScience Education: from Faculty Careers to Student Training (GIScience 2025)
• Analyzing Global Faculty Mobility and Research Themes Through Hiring Networks (AAG 2025)
• Raster-to-Vector Heat Maps: Multiscale Visualization Approach to Mapping with Big Geospatial Data (NACIS 2024)
• Investigating Mobility and Research Themes through Faculty Hiring Network in GIScience(UCGIS symposium 2024)
• Facilitating Global Connections in Geographic Information Science Education, Research, and Practice (AAG 2024)
• Digital Cartography and Historical Insights: Mapping a New Course for the Past in the Digital Age (AAG 2024)
• Academic Recruiting in GIScience: Demographics, Mobility and Hierarchy (SKI Conference Canada 2023)
• Mobile Tracker of Volunteered Geographic Information; Using Story Map as Visual Storytelling (McGill GIS Day 2022)

AWARDS AND  HONORS

Map Competition

• Map Selected (1 of 15 works representing the U.S.), International Cartographic Exhibition 2025
• Map Admitted, UW–Madison Digital Salon 2024, 2025
• First Place, Graduate Student Petchenik Map Competition 2024

Awards and Scholarships

• CaGIS Scholarship, Cartography and Geographic Information Society (national award, one of two given to MS student), 2025
• Trewartha Graduate Research Scholarship, Dept. of Geography, UW-Madison, 2025
• CAGIS Rising Award, Cartography and Geographic Information Society. Kang Y., Chen Y., Zhou B., Gu Z.  Characterizing and Promoting Cartography and GIS Graduate Programs through Research Theme Discovery and Online Seminars, 2024
• Master’s Student Research Grant, AAG Cartography Special Group, 2024
• Scholarship for CaGIS & UCGIS Symposium, International Cartographic Association, 2024
• University Graduate Fellowship, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2023
• Geographic Information Center (GIC) Undergraduate Award, GIC at McGill University 2023
• Dean’s Honour List, Arts Research Internship Awards, Arts Undergraduate Awards, McGill University, 2022

Travel Awards

• GIScience NSF Travel Award, 2025
• CaGIS International Travel Grant, U.S. National Committee to the Intl Cartographic Association, 2025
• Student Research Grants Competition – Conference Presentation Travel Award, UW-Madison, 2025
• NACIS Student Travel Grant, North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) 2025, 2024
• Trewartha Conference Travel Awards, Dept. of Geography, UW–Madison 2024