Wenjie Wang joined the University Libraries as geospatial data and programs librarian in the Libraries’ Research Partnerships department on March 1. Wang has a doctorate degree in geography from the University of Connecticut, a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering from Duke University, and a bachelor of science degree in remote sensing and information engineering from Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
Before joining Nebraska, he worked as a geographic information system (GIS) specialist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and as a researcher and a census and geospatial data specialist at the University of Connecticut.
Wang looks forward to connecting Nebraska researchers with geospatial resources, including the data that is stored on our campus and the data resources that are available online.
“I can help them identify relevant data sources and provide guidance on how to use geospatial data in their research,” explained Wang.
Wang will serve as UNL Libraries liaison to the Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Geoportal project. This geoportal offers web services, GIS datasets, and digitized historical maps, including Nebraska’s geospatial data and library-owned scanned maps. The BTAA Geoportal is open to the public, so it can enhance the discoverability of our collections.
One of Wang’s responsibilities is to promote the project to researchers and help them access its resources.
Additionally, Wang is eager to collaborate on interdisciplinary projects that incorporate GIS tools across campus, such as creating maps, developing web applications, and designing with ArcGIS StoryMaps, among other activities. He is looking forward to the chance to work with faculty and students from different fields and diverse backgrounds.
Wang’s own research interests include land use and land cover change and how to improve land cover classification accuracy and other GIS-related research projects. Contact Wenjie Wang at wwang37@unl.edu.