Dr. Yan Lin is a geographer with training in Geographic Information Science (GIScience) and health/medical geography. Her research is dedicated to exploring the interrelated process between space, place, and health. By leveraging GIScience, spatial analysis & statistics, mixed-methods, and community-based research principles and methodologies, she aims to unravel the multifaceted relationships among human health, social dynamics, and environmental factors. Dr. Lin’s research endeavors to bridge the realms of GIScience with environmental and social determinants of health, with a particular focus on spatial analysis and modeling, data & uncertainties, community environmental health, and cancer disparities.
In the realm of spatial analysis and modeling, her research delves into the development and refinement of geospatial modeling and the exploration of uncertainties inherent in data source and their propagation through modeling, as well as their social implications with a critical lens. Her research agenda in environmental health has a specific emphasis on understanding and addressing environmental health disparities, particularly within Native American communities. Central to this endeavor is the cultivation of sustained partnerships with indigenous communities, ensuring that research efforts are aligned with and responsive to community priorities and needs. In the domain of cancer disparities research, she adopted a geographical lens to examine various facets of cancer prevention and control.
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Recent Publications
Deconstructing rurality to better “place” health data
Beene, D., Lin, Y., Hoover, J. H. & Shi, X., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: International Journal of Geographical Information Science.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Industrial air pollution and newborn hearing screening failure
Huang, Y., Lin, Y., Lavin, R. P., Luo, L., Luo, M., Leng, S., Mullen, N. M., Hawley, K. & Gong, X., Jul 15 2025, In: Journal of Hazardous Materials. 492, 138241.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Associations between rocky mountain spotted fever and veterinary care access, climatic factors and landscape in the State of Arizona, USA
Lin, Y., Hridoy, A. E. E., Li, M., Wang, Z., Luo, L., Ma, X., Liu, Z., John, M., Fan, C., Ruberto, I., Gong, X. & Shi, X., Jul 7 2025, In: Geospatial Health. 20, 2, 1390.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Practicing community-based research in GIScience and geography–a case study with an Indigenous community, best practices, challenges, and lessons learned
Lin, Y., Beene, D., Woldeyohannes, T., Liu, Z., Tatman, W., Lister, A., Gong, X., Gay-Antaki, M., Ingram, J. & Hoover, J., 2025, (Accepted/In press) In: Cartography and Geographic Information Science.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
The long-run effect of historical redlining practices on social vulnerability in U.S. cities
Lu, Y., Lin, Y., Howard, N., Brown, C. P. & Gong, X., Feb 2025, In: Cities. 157, 105590.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Application of artificial intelligence in quantifying lung deposition dose of black carbon in people with exposure to ambient combustion particles
Jiang, M., Hu, C. J., Rowe, C. L., Kang, H., Gong, X., Dagucon, C. P., Wang, J., Lin, Y., Sood, A., Guo, Y., Zhu, Y., Alexis, N. E., Gilliland, F. D., Belinsky, S. A., Yu, X. & Leng, S., May 2024, In: Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. 34, 3, p. 529-537 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Spatiotemporally weighted regression (STWR) for assessing Lyme disease and landscape fragmentation dynamics in Connecticut towns
Wang, Z., Que, X., Li, M., Liu, Z., Shi, X., Ma, X., Fan, C. & Lin, Y., Dec 2024, In: Ecological Informatics. 84, 102870.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Meteorological data source comparison—a case study in geospatial modeling of potential environmental exposure to abandoned uranium mine sites in the Navajo Nation
Girlamo, C., Lin, Y., Hoover, J., Beene, D., Woldeyohannes, T., Liu, Z., Campen, M. J., MacKenzie, D. & Lewis, J., Jul 2023, In: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 195, 7, 834.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
A pruned feed-forward neural network (pruned-FNN) approach to measure air pollution exposure
Gong, X., Liu, L., Huang, Y., Zou, B., Sun, Y., Luo, L. & Lin, Y., Oct 2023, In: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. 195, 10, 1183.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Industrial air pollution and low birth weight in New Mexico, USA
Gong, X., Huang, Y., Duong, J., Leng, S., Zhan, F. B., Guo, Y., Lin, Y. & Luo, L., Dec 15 2023, In: Journal of Environmental Management. 348, 119236.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Understanding public perspectives on fracking in the United States using social media big data
Gong, X., Lu, Y., Beene, D., Li, Z., Hu, T., Morgan, M. & Lin, Y., 2023, In: Annals of GIS. 29, 1, p. 21-35 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Maternal exposure to metal components of PM2.5 and low birth weight in New Mexico, USA
Huang, Y., Gong, X., Liu, L., Luo, L., Leng, S. & Lin, Y., Sep 2023, In: Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 30, 43, p. 98526-98535 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Social Vulnerabilities and Spatial Access to Primary Healthcare through Car and Public Transportation System in the Albuquerque, NM, Metropolitan Area: Assessing Disparities through GIS and Multilevel Modeling
Lardier, D. T., Blackwell, M. A., Beene, D. & Lin, Y., Feb 2023, In: Journal of Urban Health. 100, 1, p. 88-102 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Individual level spatial-temporal modelling of exposure potential of livestock in the Cove Wash watershed, Arizona
Liu, Z., Lin, Y., Hoover, J., Beene, D., Charley, P. H. & Singer, N., 2023, In: Annals of GIS. 29, 1, p. 87-107 21 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
A mass-balance approach to evaluate arsenic intake and excretion in different populations
Beene, D., Collender, P., Cardenas, A., Harvey, C., Huhmann, L., Lin, Y., Lewis, J., LoIacono, N., Navas-Acien, A., Nigra, A., Steinmaus, C. & van Geen, A., Aug 2022, In: Environment international. 166, 107371.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review