Xi Gong | Welcom To My Website!

Dr. Gong and his lab Gong Lab is looking for motivated Ph.D. students (starting Fall 2026) to join his team in the Department of Biobehavioral Health at The Pennsylvania State University. His lab works at the intersection of Geospatial Data Science, Environmental Health Sciences, and Spatially Integrated Social Science, tackling real-world challenges with cutting-edge data and methods. If you’re passionate about making an impact through innovative, data-driven research, this could be the perfect place for you!

Details about the opportunity are in this document, and the Ph.D. program flyer here, feel free to contact through [email protected] if you are interested in joining our team and program.

Dr. Gong also welcomes postdoctoral scholars, undergraduate students, and visiting scholars/students to join his team to work together.

My name is Xi Gong (龚玺). I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Health and the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences at Pennsylvania State University, where I lead the Gong Lab.

I was born in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. I received my PhD in Geographic Information Science (2016) from Texas State University, M.Sc. in Cartography & Geographic Information System (2011) from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, and B.Eng. in Spatial Informatics and Digitalized Technology (GIS & Software Engineering) (2008) from Wuhan University, Wuhan, China. My full C.V. is here.

My research interests include Geographic Information Science, Health and the Environment, Big Data Science and Analytics, Spatio-Temporal Data Mining, GIS-Based Modeling, etc.

I am a researcher specializing in Geospatial Data Science—an emerging interdisciplinary field encompassing GIScience, computational sciences, and mathematical-statistical sciences. My research aims to utilize the synergy between geospatial principles and the increasing volume of big data/spatial-temporal data to drive discoveries and innovations.

Originating from my academic degrees in GIScience (B.E., M.S., and Ph.D.) and software engineering (B.E.), as well as specialized training in statistics and epidemiology during graduate studies, my research in Geospatial Data Science spans two increasingly overlapping research domains: Environmental Health Science (EHS) and Spatially Integrated Social Science (SISS) (see Figure above). My EHS research centers on addressing public concerns regarding various environmental risk factors’ impact on human health. This involves advancing exposure assessment models using geospatial modeling for more accurate risk estimation and further examining associations between environmental exposures and adverse health outcomes. My SISS research bridges literature gaps by enhancing spatial thinking in the social sciences and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. Specifically, I explore the spatial-temporal dimension of complex human and social dynamics based on social sensing big data and methodologies, while also developing innovative spatial-temporal data mining algorithms and visual analytics methods to reveal concealed patterns within big data/spatial-temporal data. Considering the interplay of social and environmental factors in influencing human health and behavior, alongside the advancements in SISS methodologies, my recent research is also expanding towards the convergence of EHS and SISS domains to provide in-depth explorations and solutions for health-related complexities.

TO CONTACT ME:

Xi Gong, PhDAssociate ProfessorDepartment of Biobehavioral HealthInstitute for Computational and Data Sciences (ICDS)Pennsylvania State UniversityUniversity Park, PA 16802

Office: Room 229 Biobehavioral Health BuildingE-mail: [email protected] (PhD, postdoc applications for Gong Lab at Penn State, please use [email protected])Twitter: XG_GIShttps://hhd.psu.edu/contact/xi-gong

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