From Leafmap to GeoAI: Open Source, Education, and What’s Next with Dr. Qiusheng Wu

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Qiusheng Wu, associate professor, open-source advocate, and creator of some of the most widely used tools in modern geospatial, including Leafmap and GeoAI. If you’ve ever watched his YouTube tutorials or come across his projects on GitHub, you already know the impact he’s had on the community.

We dive into:

His newly released Python for Geospatial book, one of the most complete guides in the field.

The ongoing debate of Python vs. SQL in modern workflows—and how to combine them effectively.

The rise of embeddings and geospatial foundation models (including Google’s AlphaEarth) and what they mean for GIS.

The future of open-source education and why anyone, with patience and time, can learn and contribute.

How Dr. Wu balances teaching, tool-building, publishing, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

This is a wide-ranging conversation about technology, education, and the future of spatial data. If you care about where geospatial is headed—and how to keep up—you won’t want to miss it.

👉 Links

Dr. Wu's Book on Geospatial Python: https://a.co/d/7M08rlY
Website: https://wetlands.io/
Dr. Wu on YouTube:  @giswqs  
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giswqs/