Hi there! My name is Zoe, and I’m a fourth-year undergraduate student in Human Geography at the University of Toronto. I’m thrilled to be one of UofT’s student associates with the Esri Canada GIS Centres of Excellence and look forward to sharing my interests and research on the ECCE Blog, as well as participating in the annual ECCE App Challenge.
Currently, I’m completing my Bachelor’s degree with a focus on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Environmental Studies. My primary interests lie in studying urban issues and improving accessibility to services for marginalized groups. I’m also passionate about topics like public transit expansion, coastal erosion, and flood risk assessment. Ultimately, I hope to specialize in analyzing urban patterns to support marginalized communities. In my free time, I enjoy bartending, traveling, painting, and musicals. I am also advancing my professional skills by pursuing a Data Science certificate to deepen my understanding of Big Data and machine learning for future spatial analysis projects.
About GIS:
I view GIS and data analysis as powerful tools for uncovering insights and addressing real-world challenges. My interest in this field began through academic projects in machine learning, where I was responsible for data visualization. This experience inspired me to explore more GIS and data analysis methods, including ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, Python, and R.
Currently, I’m working as a volunteer student consultant with the Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation, where I’m helping develop a program to engage senior tenant volunteers. This project has been an incredible opportunity to understand the needs of low- and middle-income seniors and explore ways to improve age-friendly and dementia-supportive communities. One of my ongoing projects focuses on understanding how rising housing prices in Ontario affect middle- and lower-income seniors’ access to Alzheimer’s care facilities. I plan to share a story map on this topic on the ECCE blog and my personal website: https://zoezxrli.github.io.
As I continue to develop my skills, I’m excited to engage with the ECCE community and explore new ways that GIS can address urban challenges. I look forward to connecting with fellow associates who share similar interests!
Thank You For Reading!
If you would like to chat more please reach at zhuoxinran.li@mail.utoronto.ca ! Or click buttons below!
A picture taken this summer at Golden Gate. (So windy here!)
