Dr. Yanghui Kang

FACULTY AFFILIATE   |   Global Change Center

Biological Systems Engineering

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yanghuikang@vt.edu

Dr. Yanghui Kang is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech, where she leads the Ecosystem Intelligence Lab. The lab advances the predictive understanding of terrestrial ecosystem dynamics and develops data-driven tools that support adaptive land and resource management under a changing climate. Bridging ecology, artificial intelligence (AI), and data science, their mission is to deliver actionable insights that improve ecosystem resilience, land stewardship, and long-term sustainability.

Integrating satellite remote sensing, AI, and process-based modeling, the Kang lab builds next-generation tools for ecosystem monitoring and management. They work across natural and agricultural landscapes, developing operational frameworks for quantifying key ecosystem functions, such as vegetation productivity, water use efficiency, and carbon sequestration. They examine how these functions vary under warming temperatures, elevated CO₂, erratic rainfall patterns, and management practices such as crop rotation, cover cropping, and irrigation. Their hybrid frameworks, which couple AI with ecological theory, improve predictions of ecosystem dynamics under diverse scenarios, informing adaptive and resilient land-management strategies.