Peilei Fan


Interim Director, Center for Global Change and Earth Observations

Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, School of Planning, Design & Construction

Michigan State University

201M Human Ecology Building, 552 West Circle Drive, East Lansing, MI 48824

School: 517-432-0704; Email: fanpeile <at> msu <dot> edu;

Web: https://sites.google.com/view/peileifan

Adjunct Faculty, Dept. of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences

Affiliated faculty, Asian Studies Center, Environmental Science and Policy Program, Global Urban Studies Program


Dr. Peilei Fan is the interim director at Center for Global Change and Earth Observation and professor of Urban and Regional Planning at School of Planning, Design, and Construction, Michigan State University (MSU). She is also an adjunct faculty member of the Geography Department at MSU. She has a Ph.D. in Economic Development and a MS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, both from MIT. Before joining MSU in 2007, she was a postdoctoral fellow for United Nations University (Tokyo) (first UNU-IAS, then JSPS-UNU fellow) from 2003 to 2006, affiliated with Tokyo Institute of Technology and Tsukuba University. Dr. Fan has served as a consultant/economist for the United Nations University –World Institute of Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) and the Asian Development Bank. She has given invited lectures at different organizations, including as a faculty member of Executive Education Program of J.F.K. School of Government, Harvard U. (2008, 2017). Dr. Fan’s research focuses on urban environment and sustainability, public health, innovation and economic development, and planning and policy. Her research projects have been funded by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Science Foundation (NSF) (3 as PI and 2 as Co-PI).

She is the Secretary General of International Association of Landscape Ecology (IALE) (2019-2024) and the Deputy Director (2019-)and IALE-IUFRO Coordinator (2021-) of Landscape Ecology Working Party of International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). She also serves the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP)'s Finance & Investment Committee and as the Track Co-Chair for Food Systems, Community Health and Safety (Track 9). She is an associate editor of the flagship journal in the field of urban planning Landscape and Urban Planning”. She was a Core Fulbright US Scholar for 2017-2018 (Taipei and Shanghai) and is a Public Intellectuals Program Fellow of the National Committee on US-China Relations (2019-20). She has published more than 70 peer-reviewed articles and been guest (co)editor for special issues of four academic journals. She served on the review panels for NASA, EPA, and Fulbright, and been ad-hoc reviewer for NSF and multiple international organizations. While she has researched on cities and sustainability worldwide, she is interested in promoting sustainability, economic development, urban environment, and public health of local communities in Michigan and regions in the US. Please also see her detailed professional profile at Google Scholar (search for Peilei Fan).

Service to the academic community


Education

  • Ph.D. in Economic Development (Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning), 2003, MIT (Also with a certificate on Financial Engineering from Sloan Management School)

  • M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2001, MIT

  • Master of City and Regional Planning, 1998, Rutgers University

  • M.S. in Geography, 1995, Nanjing University, China

  • B.S. in Computer Science, 1993, Nanjing University, China

Consultancy

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

  • Commissioned Research Paper “Innovation in China and India” for Project “The role of innovation in escaping the middle income trap”, 2015-16

  • Economist for ADB Project “The Urbanization-Poverty-Inequality Triangle in Asia and the Pacific”, 2014-15

  • Economist for ADB Project “Urbanization in Asia”, 2012

United Nations University – World Institute of Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)

  • Consultant for UNU-WIDER Project “Southern Engines of Global Growth: China, India, Brazil, and South Africa”, 2008

Research Areas

Interests: urban environment and sustainability, public health, innovation and economic development, and planning and policy

Recent and On-going Projects:

  • (1) Divergent Local Responses to Globalization: Urbanization, Land Transition, and Environmental Changes in Southeast Asia (SEAGUL). Included countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, bench mark cities (Shanghai, Taipei, Tokyo).

  • (2) COVID-19, Economic Vitality, and Environmental Impact: Global Synthesis & Urban Perspective

  • (3) Human health and causes across the physical-social landscapes in Michigan cities

  • (4) Urbanization, economic development, environmental change, and social conditions: A global assessment and regional perspective

  • (5) The development of the computer industry in China

  • (6) Integration of online market place and main street in Michigan communities: Drivers, impacts, and policy implications (finished)

  • (7) Urbanization and sustainability in SENA (Southeast, East, &North Asia) included countries: China, Mongolia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, and North Asia of Russia (finished)

  • (8) Urbanization and environmental change under institutional change, globalization, and historical/cultural influences: Comparative analysis of Taipei and Shanghai (finished)

  • (9) Innovation & economic development in China, India and East Asia (finished)


Recent Awards

· Public Intellectuals Program (PIP) Fellow, National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR). 2019-2020.

· Cross-disciplinary Faculty Research Award, College of Social Science, Michigan State University. 2018-19.

· Core Fulbright US Scholar of Cross-Strait Studies Program, Council for International Exchange of Scholar (CIES), US Department of States, 2017-2018. Fulbright Research Project: Urbanization and environmental change under institutional change, globalization, and historical/cultural influences: Comparative analysis of Taipei and Shanghai.

Google Scholar Profile and Citation


CV available upon request.