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Mei-Po Kwan
Choh-Ming Li Professor of Geography and Resource Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
Assumed office
August 2019
Director, Institute of Space and Earth Information Science, CUHK
Assumed office
August 2019
Head, Chung Chi College, CUHK
Assumed office
1 August 2023
Director, Institute of Future Cities
Assumed office
2023
Personal details
Alma mater The Chinese University of Hong Kong ( BSSc)
The University of California, Los Angeles (MA)
The University of California, Santa Barbara ( PhD)
Occupation The Ohio State University
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Mei-Po Kwan ( Chinese: 關美寶) is a geographer known for her research contributions in Geographic Information Science, and human geography, particularly as they apply to time geography and human mobility. She is the Choh-Ming Li Professor of Geography and Resource Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong ( CUHK), Director of the Institute of Space and Earth Information Science (ISEIS) of CUHK, Director of the Institute of Future Cities of CUHK, and Head of Chung Chi College of CUHK.

Biography

Kwan was born in Hong Kong. Her favorite subject in secondary school was geography. When she entered CUHK, she picked nothing but geography as her major. [1] She lived in the Theology Building, a Chung Chi College student hostel. During year 2 of her undergraduate study, she went on exchange at the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan, for a year.

Kwan obtained her Bachelor of Social Science degree with first-class honors from CUHK in 1985; her Master’s degree in Urban Planning from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1989; and her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 1994. She developed her teaching and research career at the Ohio State University in 1995, and became a Distinguished Professor of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University. [1] [2] Between 2013 and 2019, she served as a Professor of Geography and Geographic Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since 2019, she has been the Choh-Ming Li Professor of Geography and Resource Management and Director of ISEIS of CUHK. [1] Since 2023, she has been the Head of Chung Chi College, CUHK, and Director of the Institute of Future Cities of CUHK. [2]

Led by Kwan, ISEIS held a ceremony in 2023 to launch a remote sensing satellite construction project, the first earth observation satellite construction project funded by the HKSAR Government. The research team will develop and launch the first CUHK satellite, which will participate in natural disaster monitoring, carbon neutrality, and sustainable development research. [3]

Research

Kwan has made groundbreaking contributions to diverse research areas, covering environmental health, urban travel and health issues in cities, sustainability, human mobility, and geographic information science (GIScience), among others. She is a leading worldwide researcher having developed and deployed real-time GPS tracking and mobile sensing, such as air quality sensors, to collect individual-level data for environmental health research. She is also the first scientist who deploys remote sensing technologies for vehicle detection, and develops Hong Kong’s first low Earth orbit satellite.

Kwan emphasises the application of GIS in the research on health and urban geography, paying particular attention to the spatial and temporal characteristics of human daily activities, as well as the impact of the built environment and social environment on individual daily life experiences and well-being. Projects include the study of green space, women in sex work and the risk environment, youth and adult drug abuse, privacy issues caused by anti-epidemic measures, and the protection of geoprivacy via the development of a Geospatial Virtual Data Enclave (GVDE), among others. [4]

In 2023, severe flooding was caused by Typhoon Haikui. The research team led by Kwan and Professor Ma Peifeng, Vice-Chancellor Assistant Professor of the Department of Geography and Resource Management, used the satellite’s images to monitor and analyse the flooded areas and further evaluate the impact of the flooding. [5]

Uncertain geographic context problem

The uncertain geographic context problem or UGCoP is a source of statistical bias that can significantly impact the results of spatial analysis when dealing with aggregate data. [6] [7] [8] The UGCoP is very closely related to the Modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP), and like the MAUP, arises from how we divide the land into areal units. [9] [10] It is caused by the difficulty, or impossibility, of understanding how phenomena under investigation (such as people within a census tract) in different enumeration units interact between enumeration units, and outside of a study area over time. [6] [11] It is particularly important to consider the UGCoP within the discipline of time geography, where phenomena under investigation can move between spatial enumeration units during the study period. [7] Examples of research that needs to consider the UGCoP include food access and human mobility. [12] [13]
Schematic and example of a space-time prism using transit network data: On the right is a schematic diagram of a space-time prism, and on the left is a map of the potential path area for two different time budgets. [14]
The uncertain geographic context problem, or UGCoP, was first coined by Dr. Mei-Po Kwan in 2012. [6] [7] The problem is highly related to the ecological fallacy, edge effect, and Modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) in that, it relates to aggregate units as they apply to individuals. [10] The crux of the problem is that the boundaries we use for aggregation are arbitrary and may not represent the actual neighborhood of the individuals within them. [9] [10] While a particular enumeration unit, such as a census tract, contains a person's location, they may cross its boundaries to work, go to school, and shop in completely different areas. [15] [16] Thus, the geographic phenomena under investigation extends beyond the delineated boundary . [11] [17] [18] Different individuals, or groups may have completely different activity spaces, making an enumeration unit that is relevant for one person meaningless to another. [12] [19] For example, a map that aggregates people by school districts will be more meaningful when studying a population of students than the general population. [20] Traditional spatial analysis, by necessity, treats each discrete areal unit as a self-contained neighborhood and does not consider the daily activity of crossing the boundaries. [6] [7]

Neighborhood effect averaging problem

The neighborhood effect averaging problem or NEAP delves into the challenges associated with understanding the influence of aggregating neighborhood-level phenomena on individuals when mobility-dependent exposures influence the phenomena. [21] [22] [23] The problem confounds the neighbourhood effect, which suggests that a person's neighborhood impacts their individual characteristics, such as health. [24] [25] It relates to the boundary problem, in that delineated neighborhoods used for analysis may not fully account for an individual's activity space if the borders are permeable, and individual mobility crosses the boundaries. The term was first coined by Mei-Po Kwan in the peer-reviewed journal "International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health" in 2018. [21] [22]

Achievements

Kwan has made pioneering and innovative contributions to multiple research areas, including environmental health, transport, social issues in cities, sustainability, human mobility, and GIScience, among others. Kwan has published over 470 books, journal articles, and book chapters; hosted and co-hosted over 50 researches funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the European Research Council, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Hong Kong Research Grants Council. She is named Fellow of the U.K. Academy of Social Sciences; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (UK); Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); Fellow of the American Association of Geographers; and Fellow of the International Society for Urban Informatics. [26]

Kwan has delivered keynote speeches at renowned universities and institutes worldwide, including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Oxford, Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Chinese Academy of Sciences. She has delivered over 400 keynote addresses, invited lectures, and other invited presentations in more than 20 countries. Kwan was listed as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate in 2019 and 2021, and ranked fourth internationally in the field of Geography by Standford University in 2022, and first nationally in the field of Geography by globalauthorid.com. [27] [28]

Kwan has served as an editor of Annals of the American Association of Geographers for 12 years, an editor of Regional Studies, an associate editor of Geographical Analysis, a National Councillor of the Association of American Geographers (AAG), a Member of the Board of Directors of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS), General Chair of GIScience 2012 International Conference, President of the International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Sciences (CPGIS), and Chair of AAG Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group and AAG GIS Specialty Group. She has also been an advisory panellist or reviewer of grant proposals of numerous science foundations and institutions, including the U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Institutes of Health, European Research Council, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Austrian Science Fund, Australian Research Council, Royal Geographical Society (U.K.), Research Foundation of Flanders, Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, and Swiss National Science Foundation. Kwan has been on the editorial boards for over 100 journals.

Awards

  • 2004, Fellow, Royal Geographical Society [4]
  • 2005, University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) Research Award [4]
  • 2005, Edward L. Ullman Award, AAG Transportation Geography Specialty Group [29]
  • 2009, Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) [4]
  • 2011, Distinguished Scholarship Honors, Association of American Geographers (AAG), being the first female Asian recipient since the establishment of the Association [30]
  • 2016, E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Award, American Association of Geographers [31]
  • 2016, Melinda S. Meade Distinguished Scholarship Award, AAG Health and Medical Geography Specialty Group [4]
  • 2016, Guggenheim Fellow [32]
  • 2017, Distinguished Scholar Award, International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Sciences (CPGIS) [33]
  • 2017, Alan Hay Award in Transport Geography, Transport Geography Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG) [34]
  • 2018, Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography, American Association of Geographers [35]
  • 2018, Fellow, U.K. Academy of Social Sciences [36]
  • 2019, Highly Cited Researcher 2019, Web of Science, Clarivate [37]
  • 2020, Fellow, American Association of Geographers
  • 2021, Wilbanks Prize for Transformational Research in Geography, American Association of Geographers [38]
  • 2021, ranked third nationally in Social Sciences and Humanities according to Research.com
  • 2021, Highly Cited Researcher 2021, Web of Science, Clarivate [39]
  • 2022, James R. Anderson Medal of Honor in Applied Geography, AAG Applied Geography Specialty Group [40]
  • 2022, ranked the world’s No. 4 in the field of Geography according to the list of the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University
  • 2023, Outstanding Achievement Award in Modeling Geographical Systems, Modeling Geographical Systems Commission (MGSC) of the International Geographical Union (IGU) [41]
  • 2023, ranked first nationally in Geography according to the “2023 Global Scholar Academic Impact Rankings” of globalauthorid.com. [27] [28]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "崇基校友關美寶 推動科研創新天" (PDF). 《中大校友》99. September 2019.
  2. ^ a b "以生命影響生命" (PDF). 崇基校友. December 2023.
  3. ^ "CUHK ISEIS receives HK$33 million research grants to promote smart traffic and satellite remote sensing in Hong Kong". The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press Release. 1 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Mei-Po Kwan". Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  5. ^ "Satellite technologies for flooding monitoring (Chinese version only)". The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press Release. 12 September 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d Kwan, Mei-Po (2012). "The Uncertain Geographic Context Problem". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 102 (5): 958–968. doi: 10.1080/00045608.2012.687349. S2CID  52024592.
  7. ^ a b c d Kwan, Mei-Po (2012). "How GIS can help address the uncertain geographic context problem in social science research". Annals of GIS. 18 (4): 245–255. doi: 10.1080/19475683.2012.727867. S2CID  13215965. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
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  9. ^ a b Openshaw, Stan (1983). The Modifiable Aerial Unit Problem (PDF). GeoBooks. ISBN  0-86094-134-5.
  10. ^ a b c Chen, Xiang; Ye, Xinyue; Widener, Michael J.; Delmelle, Eric; Kwan, Mei-Po; Shannon, Jerry; Racine, Racine F.; Adams, Aaron; Liang, Lu; Peng, Jia (27 December 2022). "A systematic review of the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) in community food environmental research". Urban Informatics. 1. doi: 10.1007/s44212-022-00021-1. S2CID  255206315.
  11. ^ a b Gao, Fei; Kihal, Wahida; Meur, Nolwenn Le; Souris, Marc; Deguen, Séverine (2017). "Does the edge effect impact on the measure of spatial accessibility to healthcare providers?". International Journal of Health Geographics. 16 (1): 46. doi: 10.1186/s12942-017-0119-3. PMC  5725922. PMID  29228961.
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  14. ^ Allen, Jeff (2019). "Using Network Segments in the Visualization of Urban Isochrones". Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization. 53 (4): 262–270. doi: 10.3138/cart.53.4.2018-0013. S2CID  133986477.
  15. ^ Zhao, Pengxiang; Kwan, Mei-Po; Zhou, Suhong (2018). "The Uncertain Geographic Context Problem in the Analysis of the Relationships between Obesity and the Built Environment in Guangzhou". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 15 (2): 308. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15020308. PMC  5858377. PMID  29439392.
  16. ^ Zhou, Xingang; Liu, Jianzheng; Yeh, Anthony Gar On; Yue, Yang; Li, Weifeng (2015). "The Uncertain Geographic Context Problem in Identifying Activity Centers Using Mobile Phone Positioning Data and Point of Interest Data". Advances in Spatial Data Handling and Analysis. Advances in Geographic Information Science. pp. 107–119. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-19950-4_7. ISBN  978-3-319-19949-8. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  17. ^ Tobler, Waldo (2004). "On the First Law of Geography: A Reply". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 94 (2): 304–310. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8306.2004.09402009.x. S2CID  33201684. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  18. ^ Salvo, Deborah; Durand, Casey P.; Dooley, Erin E.; Johnson, Ashleigh M.; Oluyomi, Abiodun; Gabriel, Kelley P.; Van Dan Berg, Alexandra; Perez, Adriana; Kohl, Harold W. (June 2019). "Reducing the Uncertain Geographic Context Problem in Physical Activity Research: The Houston TRAIN Study". Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 51 (6S): 437. doi: 10.1249/01.mss.0000561808.49993.53. S2CID  198375226.
  19. ^ Thrift, Nigel (1977). An Introduction to Time-Geography (PDF). Geo Abstracts, University of East Anglia. ISBN  0-90224667-4.
  20. ^ Shmool, Jessie L.; Johnson, Isaac L.; Dodson, Zan M.; Keene, Robert; Gradeck, Robert; Beach, Scott R.; Clougherty, Jane E. (2018). "Developing a GIS-Based Online Survey Instrument to Elicit Perceived Neighborhood Geographies to Address the Uncertain Geographic Context Problem". The Professional Geographer. 70 (3): 423–433. doi: 10.1080/00330124.2017.1416299. S2CID  135366460. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  21. ^ a b Kwan, Mei-Po (2018). "The Neighborhood Effect Averaging Problem (NEAP): An Elusive Confounder of the Neighborhood Effect". Int J Environ Res Public Health. 15 (9). doi: 10.3390/ijerph15091841. PMC  6163400. PMID  30150510.
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  23. ^ Xu, Tiantian; Wang, Shiyi; Liu, Qing; Kim, Junghwan; Zhang, Jingyi; Ren, Yiwen; Ta, Na; Wang, Xiaoliang; Wu, Jiayu (August 2023). "Vegetation color exposure differences at the community and individual levels: An explanatory framework based on the neighborhood effect averaging problem". Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 86. doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2023.128001.
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  41. ^ "Announcement of IGU MGSC Awards 2023". Modeling Geographical Systems Commission (MGSC) International Geographical Union (IGU). Retrieved 11 March 2024.

External links