Ph.D. Student Hao Tian Receives ESI Graduate Fellow Award and Geography Research Excellence Award

We’re excited to share that Ph.D. student Hao Tian has recently received two recognitions for his research contributions in GIScience, social and seismic sensing, and urban human dynamics.

Hao was selected as a recipient of the 2026 Environment & Sustainability Initiative (ESI) Graduate Fellow Award, receiving $2,500 in research funding to support his project, “AI-Driven Seismic Sensing of Human Activity Disruptions During Extreme Weather Events.” The project explores how artificial intelligence and ambient seismic sensing can be leveraged to monitor collective human activity disruptions during extreme weather events and improve understanding of urban resilience.

In addition, Hao received the 2025–2026 Geography Graduate Student Excellence in Research Award, presented by the Texas A&M Department of Geography in recognition of outstanding graduate research achievement.

Congratulations to Hao on these well-deserved achievements, and we look forward to seeing the continued impact of his research on understanding human responses to environmental disruptions and urban resilience.