Project Directors
Dr. Barry Hibbs
Project Director/PI, Professor
Phone: 323-343-2414
Email: [email protected]
Research website
Professor within the Department of Geosciences and Environment is the principal director of the REU Site. Dr. Hibbs earned a BS in Geology at Arizona State University (1986), an MS in Hydrogeology at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (1989), and a Ph.D. in Hydrogeology from the University of Texas at Austin (1993). He was then employed as a research hydrogeologist at the Texas Bureau of Economic Geology and Texas Water Development Board (1993-1997). Dr. Hibbs’ expertise is the hydrogeology and hydrochemistry of groundwater basins and terrestrial watersheds. The primary REU applications in Dr. Hibbs’ Lab include field data acquisition, basic hydrochemical analysis in his wet chemistry lab, and some computer modeling.
Dr. Petr Vozka
Co-Project Director/Co-PI, Assistant Professor
Phone: 323-343-2368
Email: [email protected]
Research website
Assistant Professor within the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry is the co-principal director of the REU Site. Dr. Vozka earned a BS in Chemistry and Chemical Technologies (2012), an MS in Chemistry and Technology of Fuels and Environment (2014) at the University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague, Czech Republic, and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry of Fuels from the Purdue University (2019), where he also received a post-doctoral research appointment. Dr. Vozka’s research interests focus on developing novel and improving comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatographic (GC×GC) and mass spectrometry techniques to analyze complex chemical mixtures. His ongoing research projects include a study of the interactions between microplastics and organic compounds and olefins (alkenes) detection and quantification in petroleum fractions. The primary REU applications in Dr. Vozka’s Lab include advanced analytical laboratory analysis and some computer modeling.
2023 Faculty Members
Dr. Stephen LaDochy
Professor
Phone: 323-343-2222
Email: [email protected]
Research website
Dr. Steve LaDochy is a Professor Emeritus of Geosciences & Environment at California State University, Los Angeles. His BA in Meteorology is from UCLA, his MS in Atmospheric Sciences is from Colorado State University, and his Ph.D. in Geography is from the University of Manitoba, Canada. His teaching and research interests include climate change, urban climatology, severe weather meteorology and air pollution meteorology. Dr. LaDochy continues research on western U.S. climate change. The primary REU applications in Dr. LaDochy’s Lab include statistical analysis and processing of geospatial data and computer-processing of results.
Dr. Jingjing Li
Associate Professor
Phone: 323-343-2224
Email: [email protected]
Research website
Associate Professor within the Department of Geosciences and Environment. Dr. Li earned a BS in Environmental Engineering at Fuzhou University, China (2007), an MS in Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Irvine (2008), and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Irvine (2012). She was then employed as an Adjunct Professor at Chapman University. Dr. Li's research interests focus on bridging hydrology and remote sensing to improve the understanding of hydrologic variables. She is interested in the application of satellite data, Geographic Information System (GIS), and information technologies in hydrology and water resources. The primary REU applications in Dr. Li’s Lab include computer processing and modeling of remote sensing data products and computer processing of other hydrological data.
Dr. Sonya Lopez
Associate Professor
Phone: 323-343-4455
Email: [email protected]
Research website
Associate Professor within the Department of Civil Engineering, Dr. Lopez earned a BS, MS, and Ph.D. from UCLA in 2007, 2008, and 2012, respectively. She then received a post-doctoral research appointment at the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Lopez interests include developing methods to ascertain the impacts climate variability has on the long-term surface and subsurface water, water storage, ecosystems, and water quality using novel modeling techniques and the integration of advanced observation data. The primary REU applications in Dr. Lopez’s lab involve performing modeling studies with the inclusion of local sustainable technologies using both physically-based and conceptually-based hydrologic models.
Dr. Yangyang Liu
Associate Professor
Phone: 323-343-2323
Email: [email protected]
Research website
Dr. Yangyang Liu is an Associate Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Dr. Liu earned a B.S. in Chemistry at Nankai University, China (2009) and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Texas A&M University (2014). Before she joined Cal State LA in 2016, she worked at Northwestern University as a Postdoctoral Fellow and studied catalytic porous materials for the degradation of toxic chemicals (2014-2016). Dr. Liu's research interests focus on the design and development of novel materials for energy/environmental sustainability and human health. Recent projects in her lab include designing new materials for hydrogen storage, carbon dioxide capture, solar cells, toxic chemical degradation, water purification, and drug delivery. The primary REU applications in Dr. Liu’s Lab include the design and synthesis of catalytic porous materials for the removal and degradation of toxic chemicals (both organic and inorganic pollutants) from polluted water sources.
Dr. Alireza Farahmand
Assistant Professor
Phone:
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Alireza Farahmand is an Assistant Professor within the Department of Geosciences and Environment. He is also the faculty coordinator of the Environmental Science MS program at Cal State LA. Prior to joining Cal State LA, he was affiliated with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) as a researcher and engineer. Dr. Farahmand earned a BS in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of Wuppertal in Germany (2010), an MS in Water Resources Engineering from the University of California, Irvine (2013), and a Ph.D. in Water Resources Engineering from the University of California Irvine (2016). The primary REU applications in Dr. Farahmand’s lab utilize remote sensing observations, statistical approaches, machine learning, and geospatial techniques to improve monitoring of hydro-climate extremes (particularly droughts, wildfires) and the impact of extremes on agriculture, water resources management, food security, vegetation health, and sustainability.
Dr. Michael Beland
Assistant Professor
Phone: 310-270-3752
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Michael Beland is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences and Environment. Dr. Beland earned a BS in Geography from East Carolina University, an MA in Geography from California State University, Northridge, and a Ph.D. in Geography from San Diego State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research combines in situ and remote sensing measurements along with GIS data processing and analysis to map and monitor landscape change, with a specific interest in how coastal wetlands in urban and natural areas respond to disturbance. The primary REU application in Dr. Beland’s Lab uses emerging technologies and image processing methods, such as small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) and photogrammetry techniques, to characterize coastal wetlands and detect geomorphic change.
Dr. Brenda Andrade Rounds
Assistant Professor
Phone: 323-343-2326
Email: [email protected]
Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Dr. Andrade earned her Chemistry BS (2010) and MS (2013) at CalState LA and her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2019). She returned to California, where she received an IRACDA-funded postdoctoral appointment at the University of California San Diego in Skaggs School of Pharmacy. Dr. Andrade’s research interests focus on developing cyclodextrin-based agents that can capture toxic molecules from aqueous mixtures. The primary REU applications in Dr. Andrade’s lab include organic synthesis, chemical characterization, and molecular affinity measurements.