Faculty, Advisors, and Assistants for the China 2011 Field Course include:
- Dr. Jacqueline McLaughlin
- Dr. Yan Qun
- Dr. Denice Wardrop
- Dr. Guijun Yang
- Dr Hua Zou
- Dr. Brian Dempsey (Faculty Advisor)
- Ms. Jieying Zhang (Staff Assistant)
- Dr. Richard Alley
- Dr. David Abler
- Dr. Rachel Brennan
- Dr. Xiaoying Cheng
- Dr. Thomas Colledge
- Kathleen Gray (Staff Assistant)
- Dr. Xiaolong Hao
- Dr. He Liu
Faculty
Dr. Jacqueline McLaughlin
The Pennsylvania State University, Lehigh Valley,
Department of Biology,
CHANCE Founding Director and Faculty
Jacqueline S. McLaughlin is Associate Professor of Biology at The Pennsylvania State University, Lehigh Valley campus. McLaughlin received her Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Rutgers/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 1991. McLaughlin is Founding Director of the international Connecting Humans and Nature through Conservation Experiences (CHANCE) program, an educational outreach and professional development program whose overarching goal is to educate high school science teachers and students, and undergraduate students in conservation biology and global environmental sustainability. Her research interests include international programming and assessment, teaching and learning with technology, and the use of open-ended inquiry in science education. Full biography >>
Dr. Richard Alley
The Pennsylvania State University, Earth and Environmental Systems Insitute
Dr. Richard Alley is Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences and Associate of the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, where he has worked since 1988. He graduated with the Ph.D. in 1987 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and with M.Sc. (1983) and B.Sc. (1980) degrees from The Ohio State University-Columbus, all in Geology. Dr. Alley conducts research on the climatic records, flow behavior, and sedimentary deposits of large ice sheets, to aid in prediction of future changes in climate and sea level. His experience includes three field seasons in Antarctica, eight in Greenland, and three in Alaska. He has published over 185 refereed papers, and is a “highly cited” scientist as indexed by ISI. His popular account of climate change and ice cores, The Two-Mile Time Machine, was chosen science book of the year by Phi Beta Kappa in 2001. Full biography >>
Dr. David Abler
The Pennsylvania State University, College of Ag
Dr. Abler is a professor of Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics and Demography. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Chicago. His research interests include international food and agricultural trade and trade policy, international economic development, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. Dr. Abler's country expertise includes work in China, Costa Rica, France, India, Mexico, Nepal, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Peru, the United Kingdom, and Venezuela. He is the J. Lossing Buck Visiting Professor at Nanjing Agricultural University in China. Full biography >>
Dr. Rachel Brennan
The Pennsylvania State University, College of Engineering
Director, Advanced Ecological Engineering Systems Laboratory
Advisor, Environmental Engineering Minor
Dr. Rachel Brennan joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State University in January 2004, after receiving her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her primary research interests are in the development and application of sustainable bioremediation technologies for the treatment of contaminated surface water, groundwater, and soil. In 2007, Brennan was awarded a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation to expand her research on the simultaneous biological, chemical, and physical treatment of acid mine drainage using multifunctional substrates. Her newest area of research is the removal of emerging contaminants from wastewater using ecological processes.
Dr. Xiaoying Cheng
Jiangnan University, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering
Dr. Xiaoying Cheng received her Ph.D. degree in Natural Geography from the Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She is an Associate Professor at the School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University. Her research specializes in biological restoration of fresh water and its function, especially microbial function. Now, she is teaching undergraduate courses “Environmental Quality Assessment”, “Introduction to Environmental Sciences” and “Biological Restoration Technologies." She participated in a series of projects of national importance, and has published a series of research papers in journals and for conferences.
Dr. Thomas Colledge
The Pennsylvania State University, College of Engineering
Dr. Colledge is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Design. He earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Colledge is also Co-Faculty to the Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) program, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Service Learning in Engineering: Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship, and serves as Faculty Advisor for the Society of Humanitarian Engineers and Social Entrepreneurs.
Dr. Xiaolong Hao
Jiangnan University, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering
Dr. Xiaolong Hao received a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering in 2007 from Zhejiang University, P.R. China. He has served as an Associate Professor at the School of Environmental and Civil Engineeringer of Jiangnan University. His research interests have focused on environmental engineering of organic wastewater resources regeneration and aquatic remediation processes, and environmental chemistry on advanced oxidation technologies for pulsed high-voltage discharge plasma. Now, he is teaching three courses that cover the following topics: Water Pollution Control Engineering, Air Pollution Control Engineering and Chemical Oxidation Technology. Currently, he is a holder of several Chinese patents and has published many peer-reviewed professional papers and conference proceedings.
Dr. He Liu
Jiangnan University, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering
Dr. He Liu received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at Zhejiang University of P.R. China. He is a professor at the School of Environmental and Civil Engineering of Jiangnan University. His research expertise specializes in environmental microbiology in the areas of molecular microbiological ecology and anaerobic fermentation for volatile fatty acids production by sewage sludge. Now, he is teaching a graduate course titled “Biotechnology for the treatment and disposal of wastewater and sewage sludge” and an undergraduate course titled “environmental microbiology”. He is the author of many research studies that were published in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings.
Dr. Yan Qun
Jiangnan University, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering
Dr. Yan Qun obtained his Ph.D. degree from Jiangnan University in the year of 2003. He focused on the bio-production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) from food wastes via anaerobic digestion. Then, he worked as a research associate in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University during the year of 2003-2004, where he mainly focused on the bacterial production of tetrodotxin (TTX). Recently, he served as an Associate Professor in the School of Environmental and Civil Engineering of Jiangnan University. His research interest now is related with the biochemical mechanism during the biohydrogen process.
Dr. Denice H. Wardrop Ph.D., PE
The Pennsylvania State University
Senior Scientist, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Assistant Director, Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment
Denice Wardrop is a Senior Scientist and Professor of Geography and Ecology. Her expertise is in the impacts of human activity on the functioning and provisioning of ecosystem services by wetlands and streams, and the monitoring and assessment of aquatic systems.
Dr. Guijun Yang
Jiangnan University, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering
Dr. Guijun Yang received his Ph.D. in Environmental Science at Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He is an Associate Professor at the School of Environmental and Civil Engineering of Jiangnan University. His research expertise specializes in plankton ecology in the areas of zooplankton ecology and the mechanism of Microcystis blooms formation. Now, he is teaching an undergraduate course "Technology of Environment Monitoring.”
Dr. Hua Zou
Jiangnan University, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering
Dr. Hua Zou obtained his Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has worked as an Associate Professor in the School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University since 2005. His research focuses on the bioremediation of polluted lakes, toxic algae and solid waste treatment and safe disposal.
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Brian Dempsey
The Pennsylvania State University, College of Engineering
Dr. Brian Dempsey is a Professor of Environmental Engineering. He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Chemistry at the University of North Carolina. His primary research interests include aquatic chemistry with an emphasis on solid-liquid interfacial phenomena. He will be a faculty advisor for the China 2011 Field Course. Full biography >>
Field Course Staff Assistants
Kathleen Gray
Administrative Support Assistant, Faculty Offices, The Pennsylvania State University
Kathleen will be the Staff Assistant for the CHANCE China 2011 Field course. Kathleen serves as an Administrative Support Assistant and provides a variety of services to faculty, staff and students at the Penn State Lehigh Valley campus in Pennsylvania. Kathleen has been at Penn State for 11 years.
Ms. Jieying Zhang
Jiangnan University, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering
Ms. Zhang will be a staff assistant for the China 2011 Field Course. She obtained her Masters Degree from Tongji University of China. Now she serves as an administrative director at the School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Jiangnan University. She will act as a Student Coordinator for the Jiangnan-Penn State University field course program.
