News

On October 16, 2026, the Center for Applied Geographic Information Science (CAGIS) at UNC Charlotte welcomed K-12 students for a visit organized as part of the Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EEGS) Envirothon outreach activities. The session introduced students to geospatial technologies through demonstrations of drones, an interactive sandbox, and a ground robot. […]

The Center for Applied Geographic Information Science (CAGIS) participated in the third annual Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EEGS) Open House on October 14, 2026. Held in the McEniry lobby, the event introduced students to the department’s academic programs, research opportunities, centers, and student organizations. Dr. Yao Li and Dr. Tianyang Chen represented […]

At the invitation of Dr. Yao Li, Associate Director of Research at the Center for Applied Geographic Information Science (CAGIS), Dr. Shih-Lung Shaw visited UNC Charlotte and delivered a seminar titled “Human-Centered GIScience and GeoAI” on October 9, 2026. Dr. Shaw, Chancellor’s Professor and Alvin and Sally Beaman Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, […]

The Center for Applied Geographic Information Science (CAGIS) invites students, faculty, staff, and community partners to celebrate GIS Day 2026! AI is opening up new possibilities for creating maps, discovering spatial patterns, and communicating research. This year’s theme explores how human creativity and AI-powered geographic tools can work together to address real-world challenges—and help students […]

The Center for Applied GIScience (CAGIS) at UNC Charlotte is grateful to Jonathan N. McKinnon, a recently retired airline captain and longtime map collector, for his generous donation of hundreds of maps from around the world and a large map cabinet for educational use at UNC Charlotte. Jonathan first reached out to CAGIS while looking […]

We are pleased to highlight a new publication by Dr. Yao Li, Associate Director of Research at CAGIS, and collaborators in Molecular Ecology Resources: “Improving Malaria Parasite Gene Flow Inference Under Sparse Spatial Sampling.” Understanding how malaria parasites move between places is important for identifying potential transmission sources, migration corridors, and areas where interventions may […]

CAGIS is pleased to announce a new article published in Remote Sensing by Tianyang Chen, Wenwu Tang, Shen-En Chen, Craig Allan, and Navanit Sri Shanmugam. The study explores how Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) can help computers understand detailed 3D laser scans of bridges and surrounding environments. These scans contain millions of individual data points representing […]

Charlotte, NC — The Center for Applied Geographic Information Science (CAGIS) is pleased to highlight recent student research presented at the 2026 UCGIS Symposium, held June 15–18, 2026, at the University of Maryland, College Park. This year’s symposium, themed “AI Everywhere!,” brought together the GIScience community to explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping geospatial research, […]

The Center for Applied GIScience (CAGIS) at UNC Charlotte is pleased to support students participating in the Research Experiences and Mentorship in Urban Systems (REMUS) program. As part of their summer research experience, these students are using CAGIS resources to support their work in geospatial research, applied GIScience, data-driven analysis, and urban systems studies. The […]

Charlotte, NC — Researchers at the Center for Applied Geographic Information Science (CAGIS) have received funding from the Transportation Research Board’s Rail Safety IDEA program for a new project titled RailRisk Advisor: A Web-GIS Tool for Assessing Railroad Trespassing Risk and Recommending Countermeasures. The 18-month, $100,000 project will begin on July 1, 2026, and will […]