CeGIS People

Cuizhen (Susan) Wang

Dr. Cuizhen (Susan) Wang (Director) is a professor of geography with strong expertise in bio-environmental remote sensing and Digital Earth. Her research covers a wide span of image analysis, modeling and applications in natural and built environments. Recent interests include sUAS and high-resolution deep learning for 3D coastal mapping. Dr. Wang’s research is embraced in Big Earth Data that harmonizes all kinds of Earth observations to promote environmental health and sustainability.

Sicheng Wang

Dr. Sicheng Wang (Associate Director) is an incoming assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Wang received a Ph.D. in Planning and Public Policy from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in 2021. His research focuses on smart cities and infrastructures for inclusion, equity, and resilience. He leverages big spatiotemporal data and advanced data analytics to address issues of transportation equity, accessibility, social exclusion and activity participation, infrastructure resilience, population health, economic development, and technological changes.

Yuhao Kang

Dr. Yuhao Kang (Associate Director) is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of South Carolina, where he leads the Geospatial Intelligent Sensing (GISense) lab. Dr. Kang received his Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2023. His primary research field is Human-centered Geospatial Data Science. He developed geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI) algorithms to understand human experience (including perception, emotion, and creativity) at place and address ethical concerns (e.g., bias, geoprivacy) to support decision-making in urban environments.

Susan L. Cutter

Dr. Susan L. Cutter is a Carolina Distinguished Professor of Geography at the University of South Carolina where she directs the Hazards Vulnerability and Resilience Institute (HVRI). Her primary research interests are in the area of disaster vulnerability/resilience science—what makes people and the places where they live vulnerable to extreme events and how vulnerability and resilience are measured, monitored, and assessed. She has authored or edited thirteen books, more than 150 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.

Jerry Mitchell

Dr. Jerry Mitchell is a professor of geography and chair of the department. He joined the USC Department of Geography in 2004 as director of the Center of Excellence for Geographic Education. He has authored more than sixty articles and book chapters. His research was made possible by more than $5 million in external grant funding from the NSF, Verizon Foundation, National Geographic Society, the South Carolina Department of Education, and others.

Michael E. Hodgson

Dr. Michael E. Hodgson is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geography at the University of South Carolina. Dr. Hodgson’s research interests are broadly in geographical information science with particular interest in the use of remote sensing approaches (e.g., LiDAR and airborne drones) for environmental problems. He conducts field and GISscience-based research on environmental and historical problems in the United States and Italy.

Mohammad Naser Lessani

Mohammad Naser Lessani joins Department of Geography, University of South Carolina as a Ph.D. student in Fall 2022. Naser Lessani holds a M.S. degree in surveying and mapping from Central South University, Changsha, China, and a B.A. in geodesy engineering from Kabul Polytechnic University, Kabul, Afghanistan. His research interests include spatial data analysis, information visualization, and parallel computing. (Advisor: Li)

Breonna Roden

Breonna Roden is a master’s student at the Department of Geography, University of South Carolina. She is a teaching assistant in GIS courses and research assistant in the GIBD. She received her B.S. degree from the Department of Geoscience, University of North Alabama in Spring 2020. Her primary research interests include remote sensing, spatial analysis, and advanced geospatial approaches in environmental hazards. (Advisor: Wang)

Harrison Cassel

Harrison Cassel is a junior at the University of South Carolina pursuing a B.S. in statistics (Actuarial Science Concentration), with minors in business administration and risk management & insurance. Presently, he is an intern at the South Carolina Farm Bureau Insurance home office, where he completes a number of data management-related tasks.

Austin Short

Austin Short is a student in the Public Health Program and interested in exploring geographical and environmental epidemiology as well as the use of clusters to identify infectious disease outbreaks.

Rohit Swain

Rohit Swain is a South Carolina Honors student interested in exploring urban planning, public economics, environmental policy, public health, and climate modelling using data science methods and GIS.

Department of Geography

Faculty