I am interested in Wildlife Operations Research, which is about the management of wildlife through efficient use of limited resources. I work closely with conservation biologists and managers in wildlife agencies.
I am an Associate Professor & Distinguished Faculty Fellow of Management Analytics at Smith School of Business, Queen's University, Canada. I spent my sabbatical year at Cornell University in 2024. I received my PhD from the University of Toronto.
Stopping the Next Pandemic at Its Source
Most emerging infectious diseases in humans originate in animals, especially wildlife. Managing wildlife diseases is critical for preventing the next pandemic.
I am currently working with disease ecologists at Cornell Wildlife Health Lab and wildlife managers across north America to develop cost-effective management strategies for chronic wasting disease (CWD). In popular culture, CWD is better known as the "zombie deer disease," It has no treatment, vaccine, or cure, and poses serious threats to wildlife, agriculture, and public health. We are currently implementing the tool we developed in the SOP4CWD data warehouse, and it will soon be available for use by more than 27 wildlife agencies.
J. Wang, B. J. Hanley, N. E. Thompson, Y. Gong, D. P. Walsh, Y. Huang, C. Gonzalez-Crespo, J. G. Booth, J. N. Caudell, L. A. Miller, and K. L. Schuler (2025), Strategic Planning of Surveillance and Prevention for Emerging Infectious Disease (under revision at Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS)
Conservation of Threatened Species
The Hainan gibbon is the rarest primate on the planet, with only 42 individuals known as of 2024. Working with conservation biologists at the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, we use operations research approaches to optimize the conservation of this rare flagship species.
Learn more about our work from the paper:
J. Wang, X. Song, R. Yousefi, Z. Jiang (2024) Optimal Learning and Management of Threatened Species, Management Science, 71(6): 4757-4776.
Managing Human-Wildlife Interface
Can analytics help reconcile the conflict between human economic interests and wildlife conservation?
Ship strike is the leading cause of whale mortality. A widely used mitigation strategy is the implementation of vessel speed reduction (VSR) zones, where ships are asked to slow down. However, VSR can impose costs on mariners and lead to unintended shipping responses. Based on satellite data of ships and whales, we optimize the design of VSR to achieve a win–win outcome: saving whale while reducing the cost to the shipping industry.
Y. Gong, J. Wang, J. Zhang, Smart Speed, Sustainable Seas: Optimizing Speed Reduction Zones for Whale Conservation (work in progress)
(Coauthor: *Student ** Ecologist)
J. Wang, X. Song*, R. Yousefi*, Z. Jiang ** (2024), Optimal Learning and Management of Threatened Species, Management Science, 71(6), 4757-4776.
(INFORMS News Releases) New AI-driven model could revolutionize conservation efforts for endangered species
J. Wang (2024) Learning to Balance the Performance and Deterioration of Aging Systems through Derating, Production & Operations Management, 34(7), 1743-1758
J. Wang (2022) Optimal Sequential Multi-class Diagnosis, Operations Research, 70(1), 201–222
J. Wang (2021) Optimal Bayesian Demand Learning over Short Horizons, Production & Operations Management, 30(4), 1154-1177 code
J. Wang, Y. Levin, M. Nediak (2020) Selling Passes to Strategic Customers, Operations Research, 68(4), 1095–1115
J. Wang (2016) Minimizing the False Alarm Rate in Systems with Transient Abnormality, Naval Research Logistics, 63(4), 320-334
J. Wang, C. G. Lee (2015) Multi-state Bayesian Control Chart Over a Finite Horizon, Operations Research, 63(4), 949-964
J. Wang, B. J. Hanley**, N. E. Thompson**, Y. Gong*, D. P. Walsh**, Y. Huang**, C. Gonzalez-Crespo**, J. G. Booth, J. N. Caudell**, L. A. Miller**, and K. L. Schuler**, Strategic Planning of Surveillance and Prevention for Emerging Infectious Disease (under revision at Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, PNAS)
Optimizing Seasonal Biodiversity Surveys (with Yangyang Xie, Jeffrey Hanson**, Joseph Bennett**)
Birdbnb: Data-Driven Pitstop Support for Migrating Birds (with Li Chen, Xiaoyue Yan)
Smart Speed, Sustainable Seas: Optimizing Speed Reduction Zones for Whale Conservation (with Y. Gong*, Jingwei Zhang)
A Variational Inference Method for Bayesian Dynamic Control (with Li Chen, Jiachun Li)
Chasing the Frontier of Invasive Species (with Spencer Hill*, Denys Yemshanov**)
Ad hoc Reviewer: Operations Research, Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, Production & Operations Management, Naval Research Logistics, European Journal of Operations Research, Critical Care Medicine, Health Care Management Science, Omega, Scientific Reports
Contact Information
Jue Wang (王珏)
Smith School of Business, Queen's University
143 Union St. West, Kingston,
ON, Canada, K7L 3N6
juewang-faculty@queensu.ca
