Associate professor Jianhong (Cecilia) Xia holds a Bachelor of Science (Geography) and a Master of Science (Physical Geography) from Liaoning Normal University in China, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from RMIT University in Australia. She has over 20 years of experience as a GIS educator and spatial analyst and modeller. She has also worked as a transport geographer and transit planner with a range of research experience with tourism, public transport development, driving behaviour, cognitive science, spatial navigation and wayfinding and human mobility. Xia has published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and book chapters. She has also been awarded approximately 1.5 million dollars in research grants from government agencies, industries and the Australian Research Council since 2005. Xia has obtained two awards: the Survey & Spatial Sciences Institute Western Australia Education Development Award (Spatial Excellence Awards) 2013; and the Excellence and Innovation in Teaching Awards by the Faculty of Science and Engineering, 2012; and was shortlisted for the 2013 National Australia Pacific Spatial Excellence Individual Awards.