Tao Hu

I’m an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at Oklahoma State University. Before joining OSU, I was a postdoc research fellow in the Center for Geographic Analysis (CGA) at Harvard University and the Department of Geography at Kent State University. My research interests focus on leveraging multi-source geospatial big data (e.g., remote sensing images, Google Street View images, geolocated social media data, and smartphone users’ mobility data) and advanced spatial statistical and GeoAI (Geospatial Artificial Intelligence) models to address pressing challenges in population health and environmental health, such as health disparities and heat vulnerabilities. I have published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles with 5 ESI Highly Cited papers (top 1%). My research has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP). CV

Research Interests:

Geospatial Big Data Analytics
Human Behavior and Population Health
Geolocated Social Media Analysis
Applications of Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI)

news

Mar 25, 2026	PhD student Yuxin Cao received a Graduate Research Award at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers (AAG).
Dec 12, 2025	Congratulations to Dr. Ehsan Foroutan, who successfully defended his dissertation, Leveraging Advanced Statistical and Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI) Models to Unveil Heat-Related Health Impacts, and graduated with his PhD in December 2025.
Apr 15, 2025	PhD student Ehsan Foroutan received the Holistic Research Award for graduate students from the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Oklahoma State University, recognizing the excellence and breadth of his research.
Oct 30, 2024	PhD student Una Lixiaona Yu published her research article “Using smartphone user mobility to unveil actual travel time to healthcare: An example of mental health facilities” in the top journal Health & Place DOI: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103375.
Oct 25, 2024	Team PI Dr. Tao Hu gave a presentation, entitled ‘Geospatial Big Data in Public Health’, at the seminar hosted by the Department of Natural Resource Ecology & Management (NREM) at OSU.