[1][2] Between 2013 and 2019, she served as a Professor of Geography and Geographic Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

She is also the first scientist who deploys remote sensing technologies for vehicle detection, and develops Hong Kong’s first low Earth orbit satellite.

Kwan emphasises the application of GIS in the research on health and urban geography, paying particular attention to the spatial and temporal characteristics of human daily activities, as well as the impact of the built environment and social environment on individual daily life experiences and well-being.

Projects include the study of green space, women in sex work and the risk environment, youth and adult drug abuse, privacy issues caused by anti-epidemic measures, and the protection of geoprivacy via the development of a Geospatial Virtual Data Enclave (GVDE), among others.

The research team led by Kwan and Professor Ma Peifeng, Vice-Chancellor Assistant Professor of the Department of Geography and Resource Management, used the satellite’s images to monitor and analyse the flooded areas and further evaluate the impact of the flooding.

[5] Kwan has made pioneering and innovative contributions to multiple research areas, including environmental health, transport, social issues in cities, sustainability, human mobility, and GIScience, among others.