Department of Geography and Planning

Dr. Minxuan Lan

Assistant Professor

Director, Spatial Social Science Research Lab

Office SM 3035
Phone 419.530.4196
Email minxuan.lan@utoledo.edu

Education

• Ph.D. University of Cincinnati, 2021 – Geographic Information Science
• M.A. University of Cincinnati, 2016 – Geographic Information Science
• B.S. University of Cincinnati, 2014 – Geographic Information Science
• B.S. Sun Yat-sen University, 2014 – Geographic Information Science

Research Interests

Dr. Lan is a human geographer with backgrounds in GIS, spatial statistics, crime science, public health, and big data mining. He is particularly intrigued by the possibility of using interdisciplinary theories and methods to solve real-world problems. He believes that researchers shall actively adopt new data sources and new data-driven methods, while the research shall be guided and closely tied to established theories.

Dr. Lan is the director of the Spatial Social Science Research Lab at UToledo. His publications are mainly focusing on applications of spatial analysis on spatial-temporal crime patterns, advancements in criminology theories, and the substance abuse epidemic. His current research interests are:

• Spatial-temporal analysis and its applications to crime, public health, and human sustainability
• Data mining, natural language processing (NLP), and their applications on social media big data
• Substance abuse epidemic and drug problem

Publications

• Lan, M., Liu, L.*, Burmeister, J., Zhu, W., Zhou, H., & Gu, X. (2022). Are Crime and Collective Emotion Interrelated? A “Broken Emotion” Conjecture from Community Twitter Posts. Social Science Computer Review, 08944393221113210.
• Liu, L., Lan, M.*, Eck, J., Yang, B. & Zhou, H. (2022). Assessing the Intraday Variation of the Spillover Effect of Tweets-derived Ambient Population on Crime. Social Science Computer Review, 40(2), 512–533.
• Zhang, X., Liu, L.*, Lan, M., Song, G., Xiao, L., Chen, J. (2022). Interpretable Machine Learning Models for Crime Prediction. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 94,
• Liu, L., Zhou, H.*, Lan, M. (2022). Agglomerative Effects of Crime Attractors and Generators on Street Robbery? An Assessment by Luojia 1-01 Satellite Nightlight. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 112:2, 350-367, DOI: 1080/24694452.2021.1933888.
• Lan, M., Liu, L.*, & Eck, J. (2021). A Spatial Analytical Approach to Assess the Impact of a Casino on Crime: An Example of JACK Casino in Downtown Cincinnati. Cities, 111,
• Zhou, H., Liu, L.*, Lan, M., Zhu, W., Song, G., Jing, F., Zhong, Y., Su, Z., Gu, X. (2021). Using Google Street View Imagery to Capture Micro Built Environment Characteristics in Drug Places, Compared with Street Robbery. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 88,
• Lan, M.* (2021). Modeling Crime Using Activities and Sentiment Generated from Geotagged Tweets.[Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1623167858208017
• Hernandez, A., Lan, M., MacKinnon, N., Branscum, A., & Cuadros, D*. (2021). “Know your epidemic, know your response”: Epidemiological assessment of the substance use disorder crisis in the United States. PloS one, 16(5), e0251502.
• Shu, S.*, Liu, H.*, Beck, R.A., Frappart, F., Korhonen, J., Lan, M., Xu, M., Yang, B., Huang, Y. (2021). Evaluation of Historic and Operational Satellite Radar Altimetry Missions for Constructing Consistent Long-term Lake Water Level Records. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 25, 1643–1670.
• Wang, Z., Liu, L.*, Haberman, C.P., Lan, M., Yang, B., & Zhou, H. (2021). Burglaries and Entry Controls in Gated Communities. Urban Studies,
• Xu, C., Chen, X., Liu, L., Lan, M., & Chen, D. (2021). Assessing Impacts of New Subway Stations on Urban Thefts in the Surrounding Areas. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 10(10), 632.
• Liu, L., Lan, M.*, Eck, J., & Kang, E. (2020). Assessing the Effects of Bus Stop Relocation on Street Robbery. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 80, 101455.
• Yang, B., Liu, L.*, Lan, M., Zhou, H., & Wang, Z. (2020). A spatio-temporal Cokriging method for crime prediction using historical crime data and transitional zones identified from nightlight imagery. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 34(9), 1740-1764.
• Liu, L., Zhou, H.*, Lan, M., & Wang, Z. (2020). Linking Luojia 1-01 Nightlight Imagery to Urban Crime. Applied Geography, 125,
• Yu, H., Liu, L.*, Yang, Bo., & Lan, M. (2020). Crime Prediction with Historical Crime and Movement Data of Potential Offenders Using a Spatio-Temporal Cokriging Method. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 9(12), 732.
• Liu, L.*, Li, L., Zhou, H., Jiang, C., & Lan, M. (2020). The Effects of Police CCTV Camera on Crime Displacement and Diffusion of Benefits: A Case Study from Gusu District in Suzhou, China. Scientia Geographica Sinica, 40(10): 1601-1609.
• Lan, M., Liu, L.*, Hernandez, A., Liu, W., Zhou, H., & Wang, Z. (2019). The Spillover Effect of Geotagged Tweets as a Measure of Ambient Population for Theft Crime. Sustainability, 11(23),
• Zhou, H., Liu, L.*, Lan, M., Yang, B., & Wang, Z. (2019). Assessing the Impact of Nightlight Gradients on Street Robbery and Burglary in Cincinnati of Ohio State, USA. Remote Sensing, 11(17), 1958.
• Wang, Z., Liu, L.*, Zhou, H., & Lan, M. (2019). How Is the Confidentiality of Crime Locations Affected by Parameters in Kernel Density Estimation? ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 8(12), 544.
• Wang, Z., Liu, L.*, Zhou, H., & Lan, M. (2019). Crime Geographical Displacement: Testing Its Potential Contribution to Crime Prediction. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 8(9), 383.
• Du, F., Liu, L.*, Jiang, C., Long, D., & Lan, M. (2019). Discerning the Effects of Rural to Urban Migrants on Burglaries in ZG City with Structural Equation Modeling. Sustainability, 11(3), 561.
• Lan, M.* (2016). Examining the Impact of Bus Stop Location Change on Robbery[Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1460653399

* Corresponding author

Research Profiles

• Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=I6XAgVEAAAAJ&hl
• ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4528-9544
• ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Minxuan_Lan
• Web of Science: https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/1957117

Courses Taught

GEPL 4110/5110 - Geographic Information Systems
GEPL 4420/5420 - Quantitative Methods in Geographic Research

Dr. Minxuan Lan - Complete CV