Zengwang Xu

Associate Professor, Geography

Education

PhD, Geography, Texas A&M University, 2007
MS, Geography, Nanjing University, China, 1998
BE, Surveying Engineering, Southwestern Jiaotong University, China, 1995

Office Hours

2:00-4:00pm on Tuesday and Thursday or by appointment

Teaching Schedule

Course Num	Title	Meets
GEOG 215-201	Introduction to Geographic Information Science	No Meeting Pattern
GEOG 215-901	Introduction to Geographic Information Science	No Meeting Pattern
GEOG 215-902	Introduction to Geographic Information Science	No Meeting Pattern
GEOG 215-903	Introduction to Geographic Information Science	No Meeting Pattern
GEOG 525-201	Geographic Information Science	No Meeting Pattern
GEOG 525-901	Geographic Information Science	No Meeting Pattern
GEOG 525-902	Geographic Information Science	No Meeting Pattern
GEOG 726-201	Geographic Information Science	No Meeting Pattern
GEOG 726-901	Geographic Information Science	No Meeting Pattern
GEOG 726-902	Geographic Information Science	No Meeting Pattern

Courses Taught

Geog 215 – Introduction to Geographical Information Science (online)
Geog 405 – Cartography
Geog 525 – Geographical Information Science
Geog 547 – Spatial Analysis
Geog 625 – Intermediate Geographical Information Science
Geog 647 – ArcGIS programming with Python
Geog 960 – Geographical Techniques

Research Interests

Dr. Xu is a GIScientist and quantitative social scientist who integrates GIS and spatial statistical methods with theories from geography, demography, sociology, population studies and urban studies, to address pressing societal issues. His primary research focuses on applying innovative GIS technology, spatial and statistical analyses to study human population dynamics at different spatial scales in the United States. These include the growth and decline of population of cities, population migration among different places across the United States, neighborhood effects on crime and health, etc. He is also interested in approaching these dynamics by using the network/system method, to study how places and people are interconnected to form the structures and patterns of the geospatial systems, and how the systems evolve over time.\nHis ongoing projects include studies on neighborhood effects on birth outcome and violence incidents in City of Milwaukee, areal interpolation of US census data, epidemic diffusion along social contact networks, population migration in the United States, and effects of hurricane damages on populations along U.S. Gulf and Atlantic coasts.

Selected Publications

Xu, Z. , & Logan, J. () Vulnerability to COVID-19: Individual and Neighborhood Characteristics Associated with Infection in Milwaukee.International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research.

Park, G. , & Xu, Z. () The constituent components and local indicator variables of social vulnerability index.Natural Hazards, 110, 95-120.

Xu, Z. , & Jiang, B. (2022) Effects of Social Vulnerability and Spatial Accessibility on COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage: A Census-Tract Level Study in Milwaukee County, USA.International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

Xu, Z. (2018) The Structure and Dynamics of Population Migration among Economic Areas in the United Stastes from 1990 to 2011.Papers in Regional Science.

Logan, J. R., & Xu, Z. (2015) Vulnerability to Hurricane Damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast Since 1950.Geographical Review, 105(2), 133–155.

Xu, Z. , & Harriss, R. (2014) Discontinuities in the evolution of the city system in Texas from 1850 to 2010.Computers, Environment, and Urban Systems, 43, 14-24.

Xu, Z. (2014) Spatial and Longitudinal Patterns in County Age-Specific Net Migration in the United States 1950-2010 (http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/M8MXJtczBfgkqh4HBu9m/full).The Professional Geographer, 66, 641-652.

Logan, J. R., Xu, Z. , & Stults, B. (2014) Interpolating U.S. Decennial census tract data from as early as 1970 to 2010: A longitudinal tract database.The Professional Geographer, 66, 412-420.