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Zeyu Xu

PhD student,ITC,University of Twente.

📍 Enschede, Overijssel, Netherlands
📧 z.xu-1@utwente.nl | 🌐www.zeyuxu.com /ai.zeyuxu.com
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/zeyuxu/

Specializing in remote sensing and deep learning, with 11 years of academic experience in remote sensing and 8 years in AI research. Passionate about applying AI-driven techniques to real-world challenges in biodiversity monitoring and environmental protection. Currently contributing to the AI-based animal population estimation project for Africa’s largest wildlife migration in South Sudan.

I am about to graduate with my PhD and am looking forward to my next position.

Publications

Isla Duporge†, Zijing Wu†, Zeyu Xu†, Peng Gong, Daniel Rubenstein, David W. Macdonald, Anthony R. E. Sinclair, Simon Levin, Stephen Lee, Tiejun Wang.
AI-powered satellite survey reveals migratory wildebeest numbers in the Serengeti are less than half of previous estimates.
PNAS Nexus, 2025. †These authors contributed equally. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf264 

Zeyu Xu, Tiejun Wang, Andrew K. Skidmore, Richard Lamprey, Shadrack Ngene.
Bounding box versus point annotation: The impact on deep learning performance for animal detection in aerial images.
ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2025.02.017

Zeyu Xu, Tiejun Wang, Andrew K. Skidmore, Richard Lamprey.
A review of deep learning techniques for detecting animals in aerial and satellite images.
International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2024.103732

Zeyu Xu, Zhanfeng Shen, Yang Li, Liegang Xia, Haoyu Wang, Shuo Li, Shuhui Jiao, Yating Lei.
Road Extraction in Mountainous Regions from High-Resolution Images Based on DSDNet and Terrain Optimization.
Remote Sensing, 2021, 13(1), 90. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13010090

Zeyu Xu, Zhanfeng Shen, Yang Li, Lifang Zhao, Yingming Ke, Shuo Li, Haoyu Wang, Shuhui Jiao.
Building extraction using deep learning and morphological constraints.
Journal of Geo-information Science, 2021. https://doi.org/10.12082/dqxxkx.2021.200397

Zeyu Xu, Zhanfeng Shen, Yang Li, Junli Li, Haoyu Wang, Shuo Li, Shuhui Jiao, Lingling Li.
Detection of water conservancy facilities using E-YOLO and NDWI constraints.
Journal of Remote Sensing, 2020. https://doi.org/10.11834/jrs.20200124

Zeyu Xu, Zhanfeng Shen, Yang Li, Lifang Zhao, Yingming Ke, Lingling Li, Qi Wen.
High-resolution image classification using Enhanced DeepLab and adaptive loss.
Journal of Remote Sensing, 2020. https://doi.org/10.11834/jrs.20209200

Education and Research Experience

Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente
PhD Researcher
📍 Netherlands | Oct 2021 – Present

  • Deep learning applications for biodiversity monitoring
  • Development of wildlife detection web application

African Parks Network
Contract Researcher (AI & Remote Sensing for Conservation)
📍 South Sudan (Remote) | Feb 2024 – Present

  • AI-driven species estimation for Africa’s largest ungulate migration

Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Master’s Student
📍 Beijing, China | Jul 2017 – Jul 2021

  • Participating in the National Natural Science Foundation of China program “Research on identification and rapid damage assessment methods of typical disaster-affected objects in earthquake based on domestic high-resolution images”
  • Participating in the National Key R&D Program of China “Research on key technologies of global comprehensive observation results management and shared service system”
  • Participating in the National Key R&D Program of China “Integration technology and emergency response demonstration of land resources and ecological environment security monitoring system”

Shandong University of Science and Technology
Bachelor’s in Remote Sensing Science and Technology
📍 Qingdao, China | Aug 2014 – Jul 2018

  • Graduated in top 1% of class

Technical Skills

Programming: Python, C++

  • Online projecthttps://ai.zeyuxu.com (Python, html, 2025)
  • Image Annotation Tool https://ai.zeyuxu.com/zeyoo (Python, 2025)
  • Software copyright “Deep Learning based Remote Sensing Ground Object Classification System_V1.0” (C++, Python, 2020)

Tools: ENVI, ArcGIS, QGIS, PyTorch, TensorFlow

Domains: Remote Sensing, Deep Learning, Object Detection, GIS, Ecological Monitoring

Soft Skills: Scientific writing, collaboration, research communication

Honors & Awards

  • National Scholarship, Ministry of Education, China (2020)
  • Top Prize, National College Paper Competition in Surveying and Mapping, China (2018)
  • Merit Student, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China (2019)
  • First Prize, National GIS Development Competition, China (2017)
  • Multiple scholarships and academic excellence awards (2015–2020)