Departmental Unit № 1
Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science (GGS)
PhD in Earth Systems and Geoinformation Sciences
100% Full Funding Guaranteed (Graduate Teaching/Research Assistantships)
Funding Package: Full tuition waiver + 9-month living stipend (~$25,000–$29,000/yr + summer funding) + health insurance covered via GRA/GTA awards.
Fall Priority Deadline: January 15 (Fall Priority)
GRE Policy: Not required / Waived
English Minimums: TOEFL iBT 80 or IELTS 6.5
MS in Geoinformatics and Geospatial Intelligence
Eligible for GTA/GRA Appointments (PhD Prioritized)
Funding Reality: GGS awards assistantships to exceptional thesis MS students based on research alignment.
Application Deadline: February 1
Admissions Advisory: If full funding is required and MS is self-funded, students are strongly advised to apply directly to the PhD track.
Vetted Matched Scholars (2 Profiles)
Prof. Viviana Maggioni
Associate Professor of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
She calculates the mathematical errors and uncertainties in NASA's weather satellite rainfall measurements, making the computer models that predict deadly flash floods far more reliable.
Core Research Topics: Satellite precipitation estimation, hydrologic remote sensing, soil moisture retrieval, flood forecasting uncertainty, satellite error modeling.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Developing statistical and machine learning error models for satellite precipitation products (IMERG, GSMaP) to improve real-time flash flood forecasting accuracy in flood-prone watersheds (NASA Earth Science / NOAA 2024–2026).
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: NASA IMERG satellite precipitation, SMAP satellite soil moisture, CREST hydrologic model, Python, R, GIS, probabilistic error modeling.
Recruiting Context: Prolific NASA and NOAA investigator specializing in satellite precipitation and hydrologic uncertainty.
Candidate Match:
Remote SensingHydrologyFlood StudiesGIS
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in satellite precipitation error modeling, SMAP soil moisture data assimilation, and flash flood prediction in the Maggioni Lab."
Prof. Ruixin Yang
Associate Professor of Geography and Geoinformation Science
In Plain Terms · What This Scholar Does:
He uses big-data artificial intelligence to scan through 20 years of satellite observations to uncover hidden climate warning signs and track wildfire spreading.
Core Research Topics: Earth observation data mining, spatial big data, remote sensing of climate anomalies, geospatial machine learning, wildfire spatial analysis.
Recent 2024–2026 Works & Grants: Applying spatial data mining and deep neural networks to multi-decadal MODIS and VIIRS satellite time-series to detect climate-driven environmental anomalies and predict wildfire ignition and burn severity.
Laboratory Instruments & Methods: Python, Hadoop/Spark, TensorFlow, MODIS/VIIRS time-series, GIS spatial analysis, high-performance computing.
Recruiting Context: Expertise in big Earth observation data mining and spatial machine learning.
Candidate Match:
Remote SensingGeoAIGISEnvironmental Modeling
Tailored Cold-Email Opening Hook:
"Discussing your interest in Earth observation data mining, satellite time-series analytics, and GeoAI in your research group."