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Zekun Lin

Graduate Student | Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources Program in Geospatial Analytics | NC State University

2018-19 Global Change Fellow

Statement of purpose:

The Earth is not just a natural resource provider to humans, but also a symbiotic system that may decline or adapt depending on our demands and choices. The  ongoing dilemma between expanding human settlements and degraded environmental  health needs sustainable solutions. I’d like to continue focusing on how the regional-global urban heat stress phenomenon responds to urbanization-induced environmental changes. To satisfy scientific and decision-making requirements in modern socio-environmental systems, I will assiduously devote my effort to conducting research aimed at improving the integration of observations with Land Change Models (LCMs), such as NC State’s open source simulation model FUTURES. I wish to further investigate approaches to improve both resolution and forecasting accuracy of LCMs to provide decision analytics for climate change and eco-biodiversity adaptation, as well as socioeconomic models under the urbanization scenarios.

Description of research:

Global land cover change, urban climate, Land Cover Models urbanization projections, study of urban environments. This research aligns with DOI Priorities 1. Creating a conservation stewardship legacy second only to Teddy Roosevelt.