Xiaogang (Marshall) Ma is an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Idaho. He received his Ph.D. degree of Earth Systems Science and GIScience from University of Twente, Netherlands in 2011, and then completed postdoctoral training in Data Science and Semantic eScience at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His research focuses on deploying data science in the Semantic Web to support cross-disciplinary collaboration and scientific discovery, with broad interests in participatory knowledge engineering, data interoperability and provenance, and visualized exploratory analysis of Big and Small Data. Ma was one of the four invited early-career panelists at the International Data Forum 2016. He is active in international societies of data science and geoinformatics, including CODATA, ESIP, RDA, GSA, AGU and IAMG. Ma received the IAMG Vistelius Research Award in 2015 and the inaugural ICSU-WDS Data Stewardship Award in 2014. He won the ESIP Funding Friday Competition Award twice in 2013 and 2012.

Education

• Postdoctorate in Semantic eScience and Data Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 06/2012-06/2014
• Ph.D. in Earth Systems Science and GIScience, ITC, University of Twente, The Netherlands, 11/2011
• D.Eng. (with distinction) in Geoinformatics Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 12/2009
• B.Eng. (with distinction) in Land Resources Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 06/2002

Curriculum Vitae

• CV [updated on 06/10/2017]
• 中文简历 [resume in Chinese]

Career

• Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, University of Idaho, 08/2016-Present
• Associate Research Scientist, Tetherless World Constellation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 06/2014-08/2016
• Postdoctoral Research Associate, Tetherless World Constellation, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 06/2012-06/2014
• Adjunct Faculty, Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 01/2013-05/2013
• Researcher, University of Twente, The Netherlands, 12/2011-05/2012
• Visiting Scientist, York University and Geological Survey of Canada, 05/2008-10/2008

1. 2017-Present: PI, Leveraging data science to explore co-relationships between elements and minerals, funded by UI ORED Seed Grant
2. 2016-Present: Affiliated Scientist, MILES: Managing Idaho's Landscapes for Ecosystem Services, funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) through Idaho EPSCoR
3. 2015-Present: Affiliated Scientist, DTDI: Deep Time Data Infrastructure, funded by W. M. Keck Foundation
4. 2015: Co-PI and Project Leader, Research Data Alliance Adoption Initiatives, funded by National Science Foundation (NSF)
5. 2012-2016: Sub-Project Leader, DCO-DS: Deep Carbon Observatory – Data Science, funded by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
6. 2013-2014: Sub-Project Manager, INTEROP ECO-OP: Employing Cyber Infrastructure Data Technologies to Facilitate IEA for Climate Impacts in NE & CA LME's (#3 & #7), funded by National Science Foundation (NSF)
7. 2013-2014: Coordinator, GeoData II 2014: EarthCube Assessment of the 2013 State of Geoinformatics: A Community and Interagency Exploration of the Life Cycle, Citation, and Integration of Geoscience Data, funded by National Science Foundation (NSF)
8. 2013-2014: Co-PI, Semantic Similarity Computation and Concept Mapping in the Earth and Environmental Sciences, funded by Foundation for Earth Science
9. 2013-2016: Member, Deep Carbon Observatory Extreme Physics and Chemistry (DCO-EPC) Computer Cluster, funded by Carnegie Institution of Washington
10. 2013-2014: Consultant, RDESC: Resource Discovery for Extreme Scale Collaboration, funded by Department of Energy (DoE)
11. 2012-2014: Project Leader, GCIS-IMSAP: Global Change Information System – Information Modeling and Semantic Application Prototype, funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
12. 2012-2013: PI, Exploratory Visualization of Earth Science Data in a Semantic Web Context, funded by Foundation for Earth Science

Peer-Reviewed Journal Papers

1. Ma, X., 2017. Linked Geoscience Data in practice: where W3C standards meet domain knowledge, data visualization and OGC standards. Earth Science Informatics, In press. DOI
2. Chen, Q., Liu, G., Ma, X., Li, X., He, Z., 2017. Fractal generator for efficient production of random planar patterns and symbols in digital mapping. Computers & Geosciences, 105, 91-102. DOI
3. Ma, X., West, P., Zednik, S., Erickson, J., Eleish, A., Chen, Y., Wang, H., Zhong, H., Fox, P., 2017. Weaving a knowledge network for Deep Carbon Science. Frontiers in Earth Science, 5, 36. (Open Access) DOI
4. Ma, X., Erickson, J.S., Zednik, S., West, P., Fox, P., 2016. Semantic specification of data types for a world of Open Data. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 5 (3), 38. (Open Access) DOI
5. Zheng, J., Fu, L., Ma, X., Fox, P., 2015. SEM+: tool for discovering concept mapping in Earth science related domain. Earth Science Informatics 8 (1), 95-102. DOI
6. Ma, X., Fox, P., Narock, T., Wilson, B., 2015. Semantic e-Science. Earth Science Informatics 8 (1), 1-3. DOI
7. Ma, X., Zheng, J.G., Goldstein, J., Zednik, S., Fu, L., Duggan, B., Aulenbach, S., West, P., Tilmes, C., Fox, P., 2014. Ontology engineering in provenance enablement for the National Climate Assessment. Environmental Modelling & Software 61, 191-205. DOI
8. Ma, X., Fox, P., Tilmes, C., Jacobs, K., Waple, A., 2014. Capturing and presenting provenance of global change information. Nature Climate Change 4 (6), 409-413. DOI
9. Ma, X., Fox, P., 2014. A jigsaw puzzle layer cake of spatial data. EOS, Transactions American Geophysical Union 95 (19), 161–161. DOI
10. Ma, X., Fox, P., Rozell, E., West, P., Zednik, S., 2014. Ontology dynamics in a data life cycle: challenges and recommendations from a geoscience perspective. Journal of Earth Science 25 (2), 407–412. DOI
11. Tilmes, C., Fox, P., Ma, X., McGuinness, D., Privette, A.P., Smith, A., Waple, A., Zednik, S., Zheng, J., 2013. Provenance representation for the National Climate Assessment in the Global Change Information System. IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing 51 (11), 5160-5168. DOI
12. Ma, X., Fox, P., 2013. Recent progress on geologic time ontologies and considerations for future works. Earth Science Informatics 6 (1), 31–46. DOI
13. He, Z., Kraak, M.-J., Huisman, O., Ma, X., Xiao, J., 2013. Parallel indexing technique for spatio-temporal data. ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing 78, 116–128. DOI
14. Ma, X., Carranza, E.J.M., Wu, C., van der Meer, F.D., 2012. Ontology-aided annotation, visualization and generalization of geological time scale information from online geological map services. Computers & Geosciences 40 (3), 107–119. DOI
15. Ma, X., Asch, K., Laxton, J.L., Richard, S.M., Asato, C.G., Carranza, E.J.M., van der Meer, F.D., Wu, C., Duclaux, G., Wakita, K., 2011. Data exchange facilitated. Nature Geoscience 4 (12), 814–814. DOI
16. Ma, X., Carranza, E.J.M., Wu, C., van der Meer, F.D., Liu, G., 2011. A SKOS-based multilingual thesaurus of geological time scale for interoperability of online geological maps. Computers & Geosciences 37 (10), 1602–1615. DOI
17. Ma, X., Wu, C., Carranza, E.J.M., Schetselaar, E.M., van der Meer, F.D., Liu, G., Wang, X., Zhang, X., 2010. Development of a controlled vocabulary for semantic interoperability of mineral exploration geodata for mining projects. Computers & Geosciences 36 (12), 1512–1522. DOI
18. Ma, X., Carranza, E.J.M., van der Meer, F.D., Wu, C., Zhang, X., 2010. Algorithms for multi-parameter constrained compositing of borehole assay intervals from economic aspects. Computers & Geosciences 36 (7), 945–952. DOI
19. Ma, X., Wang, X., Wu, C., Ju, F., 2007. Metadata hierarchy in integrated geoscientific database for regional mineral prospecting. Geo-spatial Information Science 10 (3), 223–227. DOI

Books & Book Chapters

1. Ma, X., 2017. Metadata. In: Schintler, L.A., McNeely, C.L. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Big Data. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. In Press. DOI
2. Ma, X., 2017. Spatial Data. In: Schintler, L.A., McNeely, C.L. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Big Data. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. In Press. DOI
3. Ma, X., 2017. Visualization. In: Schintler, L.A., McNeely, C.L. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Big Data. Springer, Cham, Switzerland. In Press. DOI
4. Ma, X., Beaulieu, S.E., Fu, L., Fox, P., Di Stefano, M., West, P., 2017. Documenting Provenance for Reproducible Marine Ecosystem Assessment in Open Science. In: Diviacoo, P., Glaves, H.M., Leadbetter, A. (eds.) Oceanographic and Marine Cross-Domain Data Management for Sustainable Development. IGI Global, Hershey, PA, USA. pp.100-126. DOI
5. Ma, X., Chen, Y., Wang, H., Zheng J.G., Fu, L., West, P., Erickson, J.S., Fox, P., 2015. Data visualization in the Semantic Web. In: Narock, T., Fox, P., (eds.) The Semantic Web in Earth and Space Science: Current Status and Future Directions. IOS Press, Berlin. pp. 149-167. DOI
6. Ma, X., Fox, P., Narock, T., Wilson, B., (Eds.) 2015. Semantic e-Science. Special Issue of Earth Science Informatics, Volume 8, Issue 1, Springer, 146 pp. Link
7. Wu, C., Liu G., Tian, Y., Mao, X., He, Z., Zhang, X., Liu, J., Weng, Z., Zhang, Z., Li, X., Li, Z., Xu, K., Kong, C., Li, X., Qi, G., Ma, X., 2014. An Outline of Geological Information Science and Technology. Science Press, Beijing, China. 521 pp. (In Chinese)

Peer-Reviewed Conference Papers

1. Mou, X., Jamil, H., Ma, X., 2017. VisFlow: A visual database integration and workflow querying system. Proceedings of the 33rd IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE 2017). San Diego, CA, USA. 2pp. [Finalist of Demo Paper Track]
2. Ma, X., 2015. Geoinformatics in the Semantic Web. In: Schaeben, H., Delgado, R.T., van den Boogaart, K.G., van den Boogaart, R. (eds.) Proceedings of IAMG 2015, Freiberg, Germany, pp 18-26. [Andrei B. Vistelius Award Invited Article]
3. Tilmes, C., Wolfe, R.E., Duggan, B., Aulenbach, S., Goldstein, J.C., Ma, X., Zednik, S., 2015. Supporting Trust with Provenance of the Findings of the National Climate Assessment. In: Proceedings of the Method Workshop at ISWC 2015, Bethlehem, PA. 4 pp.
4. Ma, X., West, P., Erickson, J., Zednik, S., Chen, Y., Wang H., Zhong H., Fox, P., 2015. From data portal to knowledge portal: Leveraging semantic technologies to support interdisciplinary studies. In: Proceedings of the Diversity++ Workshop at ISWC 2015, Bethlehem, PA. 6 pp.
5. Wang, H., Zheng, J.G., Ma, X., Fox P., Ji, H., 2015. Language and Domain Independent Entity Linking with Quantified Collective Validation. Proceedings of the Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP2015). 10 pp. [Best Paper Nomination]
6. Ma, X., Fu, L., Fox, P., Liu, G., 2014. An integrated golden spike information portal enabled by data visualization and semantic web technologies. In: Proceedings of IAMG 2014, New Delhi, India, 5 pp.
7. Ma, X., Chen, Y., Wang, H., Erickson, J.S., West, P., Fox, P., 2014. Deep Carbon Virtual Observatory: A cyber-enabled platform for linked science. In: Proceedings of SciDataCon2014, New Delhi, India, 3 pp.
8. Ma, X., Carranza, E.J.M., Wu, C., van der Meer, F.D., 2011. Practicing an ontology spectrum for geological data interoperability. In: Proceedings of IAMG'11, Salzburg, Austria,14 pp.
9. Ma, X., Carranza, E.J.M., van der Meer, F.D., Wu, C., 2010. Integrating data-flow analysis and object-oriented analysis for compositing of borehole metal-grade intervals. In: Proceedings of IAMG'10, Budapest, Hungary, 9 pp.

Other Publications

• Conference abstracts and presentations, invited lectures and seminars are listed in CV.

Since 2016

• CS 404/504 Semantic Web and Open Data, 3 credits (Fall 2017)
• CS404/504 Data Science, 3 credits (Spring 2017)
• ISEM301 The Beauty of Data Science, 1 credit (Spring 2017)
• CS 600 Doctoral Research and Dissertation (Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017)
• CS 502 DS: Semantic eScience, 3 credits (Spring 2017)
• CS 500 Master’s Research and Dissertation (Spring 2017, Fall 2017)

Before 2016

• Guest Lecturer, Data Collection & Curation, ITEC 4350 Data Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Spring 2013, Fall 2014)
• Instructor, Data Science, Deep Carbon Observatory Summer School (Summer 2014)
• Guest Lecturer, Geological Remote Sensing, ERTH 1100 Geology I: Earth’s Interior, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Fall 2013)
• Full Instructor, ERTH 4750 GIS in the Sciences, 4 credits, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Spring 2013)
• Teaching Assistant, GIS for Geological Survey and Mapping, 3 credits, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan (Spring 2003, Spring 2004)

Guest Editor

• Earth Science Informatics (2015, special issue ‘Semantic e-Science’)

Editorial Board Member

• Earth Science Informatics
• Data Science Journal
• International Journal of Information Retrieval Research

Reviewer for Journals and Books

• Plos One
• Applied Ontology
• Data Science Journal
• IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering
• Expert Systems with Applications
• Cluster Computing
• Semantic Web
• International Journal on Semantic Web and Information Systems
• Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
• International Journal of Information Retrieval Research
• Environmental Modelling & Software
• International Journal of Geographical Information Science
• International Journal of Digital Earth
• International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation
• ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
• Computers & Geosciences
• Computers, Environment and Urban Systems
• Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment
• Earth Science Informatics
• Environmental Management
• Transactions in GIS
• GeoResJ
• International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology
• Indonesian Journal of Electrical Engineering
• Spatial Cloud Computing: A Practical Approach (4 book chapters, 2013)
• The Semantic Web in Earth and Space Science: Current Paths and Future Directions (1 book chapter, 2015)
• Oceanographic and Marine Cross-Domain Data Management for Sustainable Development (2 book chapters)

Reviewer for Conferences

• SciDataCon 2016 (10 abstracts)
• AGU 2015 (Abstracts of 9 sessions)
• AGU 2014 (38 abstracts)
• AAG 2014 (5 abstracts)
• AAAI 2014 (1 abstract)
• AGU 2013 (25 abstracts)
• Big Data in the Geosciences Workshop 2015 (1 abstract)

Reviewer for Research Grant Programs

• NASA Advancing Collaborative Connections for Earth System Science (ACCESS) Program

Judge for Awards and Scholarships

• AGU 2015 ESSI Cluster OSPA Award Coordinator
• 2015 Sigma Xi Student Research Showcase
• 2014 Elsevier Computers & Geosciences Research Scholarship (36 proposals)
• AGU 2014 Outstanding Student Presentation Award (OSPA) (6 presentations)
• AGU 2013 OSPA Award (2 presentations)
• AGU 2012 OSPA Award (1 presentation)

Organization and Outreach Services

• 2017, Programme committee, CCKS 2017: Chinese Conference on Knowledge Graph and Semantic Computing, Chendu, China
• 2017–, Technical Advisory Committee, Interdisciplinary Earth Data Alliance, Columbia University
• 2017, Hackathon Chair, The 9th ACM Web Science Conference, Troy, NY
• 2017–, Representative of IUGS (International Union of Geological Sciences) to CODATA
• 2016, Co-chair of a Union Session, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA
• 2016–, Advisory Committee, Northwest Knowledge Network, University of Idaho
• 2016–, Chair, CODATA – Task Group on Coordinating Data Standards amongst Scientific Unions
• 2016, Co-organizer, GeoVoCampDC2016, Washington, DC
• 2016, Programme committee, CCKS 2016: Chinese Conference on Knowledge Graph and Semantic Computing, Beijing, China
• 2016, Co-chair of a session, SciDataCon2016: Advance the Frontiers of Data in Research, Denver, CO
• 2016, Programme committee, SciDataCon2016: Advance the Frontiers of Data in Research, Denver, CO
• 2016, Co-organizer and Travel Stipends Committee Chair, First U.S. Semantics Symposium
• 2016, Organizer of the Keck Data Science Day Symposium, Troy, NY
• 2016, Co-organizer of 1 session, 2016 International Geological Congress
• 2015, Organizer of 4 sessions, Chair of 8 sessions, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2015
• 2015, Program committee, Diversity++ Workshop, 2015 International Semantic Web Conference
• 2015, Organizer, Workshop of Smart Sharing with Microdata (rejected), 2015 Int’l Semantic Web Conference
• 2015, Program chair, Big Data in the Geosciences Workshop, 2015 IEEE International Conference on Big Data
• 2015, Organizer of 1 session, Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting 2015
• 2015, Organizer of 2 sessions, Federation of Earth Science Information Partners Winter Meeting 2015
• 2014, Organizer of 2 sessions, SciDataCon 2014
• 2014, Organizer and convener of 2 sessions; OSPA Award liaison of two sessions; Organizer of 4 other initial sessions, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2014
• 2014, Chair of organizing committee; Moderator of 2 sessions, GeoData 2014 Workshop
• 2014, Chair of organizing committee; Co-Chair of workshop, DCO Data Science Day
• 2014, Organizer and chair of 1 session, Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting 2014
• 2014–, Invited guest blogger for geoinformatics, data science and semantic web, ITC Alumni Blog
• 2013–, Member, PROV-ES working group
• 2013, Organizer and co-convener of 1 session, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting 2013
• 2013–, Member, Geoscience Terminology Workgroup, Commission for Geoinformation, IUGS
• 2012, Coordinator, Semantic eScience meeting series, TWC/RPI
• 2011, Secretary, International Workshop on 3D City Models in E-Government
• 2010–2011, Coordinator, ISCI guest lecture series at ITC, University of Twente
• 2010–2011, Chair, IAMG student chapter at ITC, University of Twente
• 2010–, Reporter for International Association for Mathematical Geosciences Newsletter
• 2010, Vice-chair, Faculty Council, ITC, University of Twente
• 2010, Board Member, ITC PhD student Committee, ITC, University of Twente
• 2007, Technical editor of proceedings, National Symposium of Geo-engineering Informatics, China
• 2007, Technical editor of program and abstracts, International Association for Mathematical Geosciences Annual Meeting 2007

Honors and Awards

• 2016, Councilor (2016-2020), International Association for Mathematical Geosciences
• 2015, NSF-EarthCube Distinguished Lecturer
• 2015, Andrei Borisovich Vistelius Research Award, International Association for Mathematical Geosciences
• 2015, Best Paper Nomination, Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP)
• 2015, Vespucci Institute 2015 - Spatial Ontologies for e-Science
• 2014, Inaugural WDS Data Stewardship Award, International Council for Science-World Data System
• 2013, Funding Friday Award, Federation of Earth Science Information Partners
• 2012, Funding Friday Award, Federation of Earth Science Information Partners
• 2012, Councilor Nominee, International Association for Mathematical Geosciences
• 2011, Top 25 Hottest Articles (Jul.–Sept., 2011), Computers & Geosciences, Elsevier
• 2011–2017, Travel Grants awarded by: NSF-EarthCube (3), NSF-RDA (1), A.P. Sloan Fdn. (7), W.M. Keck Fdn. (3), USGS (1), Univ. of Oxford (1), Columbia Univ. (1), Smithsonian Inst. (1), UCLA (1), McGill Univ. (1), Ohio State Univ. (1), ICSU-WDS (1), Google (1), IAMG (1), ESIP (1), CODATA (1), Global Young Academy (1), CUG (2)

Email

max@uidaho.edu

Office phone

+1 208-885-1547

Mailing address

Xiaogang (Marshall) Ma
Department of Computer Science
University of Idaho
875 Perimeter Drive MS 1010
Moscow, ID 83844-1010, USA

Office address

Janssen Engineering Building #337
University of Idaho

IDEA Lab

The Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Data Exploration and Analytics (IDEA Lab)