About
Dr. Tzu-Hsin Karen Chen is an assistant professor in DEOHS, the Department of Urban Design and Planning, and the Data Science program. She studies large-scale urban environmental change and its implications for public health and health inequality. Her research uses machine learning, satellite imagery, and street views to quantify built, social, and physical environmental characteristics, as well as natural language processing and AI to understand the landscape of psychological well-being.
Currently, Dr. Chen is leading two projects: one exploring the relationship between urban planning and mental health during extreme weather events, and the other investigating the intersection of urbanization and climate-related hazards, such as extreme heat, landslides, and wildfires. Her studies often environmental justice, vulnerability, policy intervention, through working with interdisciplinary and regional collaborators, including the Mediterranean region, the Himalayas, and the United States.
Dr. Chen’s expertise has earned an Early Career Award from NASA's Earth Science Division (2024-2027), as well as her recognition as one of the Leading Women in Machine Learning for Earth Observation in 2022. Her research findings have been published in Science Advances, Remote Sensing of Environment, Journal of Land Use Science, Applied Geography, and Science of the Total Environment, among others.
Prior to joining UW in 2023, Dr. Chen studied internationally in Taiwan, Denmark and Germany and conducted her postdoctoral research at Yale University. She is passionate about making research engaging and accessible to broader audiences. She also believes that fostering diversity and inclusiveness is essential for achieving academic excellence. In her leisure time, she enjoys spending time with cats and taking walks in the woods.