Yanhua Xie is a postdoctoral research associate at the Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) of University of Wiscon-Madison. He is now working with Prof. Holly Gibbs and Dr. Tyler Lark, leading research on characterizing the spatial and temporal patterns of agricultural and urban land cover/use changes across the United States back to 1980s, including agriculture irrigation/expansion/abandonment and future urban development's impacts on croplands.

Yanhua’s research goal is using satellite, machine learning techniques, and environmental models to understand competitions between urban and agricultural systems in terms of land use, water use, food and energy production within the context of climate change and population growth. Before joining the Gibbs Land Use and Environment Lab in November 2017, he earned his Ph.D. in Geography at Indiana State University, where he developed algorithms to characterize urban dynamics and energy consumption using artificial nighttime lights, optical remote sensing imagery, and LiDAR data. In July 2013, he completed his master’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In his free time, Yanhua enjoys planting vegetation in the garden, fishing in wild lakes, and watching movies with his kids.