James A. Noblet, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences. Dr. Noblet is an environmental chemist with more than 10 years of experience in chemical analysis and project management. His expertise is in the transport, transformations and fate of contaminants in aquatic systems. He also has considerable experience in both gas and liquid chromatography. His research interests include contaminants in the Southern California coastal ocean, methods for assessing the potential impacts of pollution, environmental applications of solid-phase microextraction and supercritical fluid extraction, chiral and isotope ratio gas chromatography, and new emerging or non-regulated contaminants. Prior to his career in environmental work, he worked for six years as materials scientist in the aerospace industry.
Sant Khalsa, Professor, Art. Sant Khalsa, Professor of Art, has been producing and exhibiting artworks for more than two decades, focused on the sensitive relationship between our constructed human environment and the natural world. She is currently working on several projects related to the topic of water including a National Endowment for the Arts grant project titled “Watershed” and her ongoing photo documentary on the Santa Ana River and the construction of the Seven Oaks Dam. She is a member of “The Water in the West Project,” a large scale collaboration of twelve photographic artists addressing water issues in the American West. The Project archive is part of the permanent research and exhibition collections of the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
Erik Melchiorre, Assistant Professor, Geological Sciences. Dr. Erik B. Melchiorre is Assistant Professor of Geology with specialization in isotope hydrology and environmental issues relating to the mining industry. Erik has built and operates a stable isotope laboratory which features a new Delta Plus Stable Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer with automated capacity to analyze waters for oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon isotopes. The facility also has nitrogen isotope sampling capacity, routinely analyses carbonate rocks and minerals for carbon and oxygen isotopes, and has a full fire assay laboratory for the determination of gold and silver values in rocks.
Anthony E. Metcalf, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences. Dr. Tony Metcalf is interested both in the evolution of genes and the evolutionary history and ecology of the organisms that possess them. He is also interested in regional geographic patterns of genetic variation across taxa. Interior coastal southern California has a high degree of endemism, generated, in part, by Pleistocene geologic activity. He further is interested in how a suite of interrelated changes in landscape has effected the distribution of regional fauna, and how such changes are reflected in the patterns of genetic variation. A third area of interest is that of conservation genetics. Information on the patterns of genetic variation in such species can be directly applied to conservation strategies.
Lal Mian, Assistant Professor, Health Sciences and Human Ecology. Dr. Lal Mian is Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Environmental Health, Department of Health Science and Human Ecology. He has expertise in vector ecology with research interest in water quality and vector bionomics. Besides other environmental health courses, he teaches water quality and pollution control. He has authored/co-authored more than 70 research publications on topics in agriculture, pesticide toxicology, vector ecology and public health. For more information, visit his website.
Brett Stanley, Assistant Professor, Chemistry. Dr. Brett Stanley, Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry, received a B.S. from the University of Pittsburgh, a Ph.D. from Utah State University , and post-doctoral experience jointly from the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is currently studying the physical chemistry of heterogeneous adsorption, ion exchange, and per chlorate reduction. He has expertise and interests in environmental and soil chemistry, chemical instrumentation, analytical methods, chromatography, and data analysis/modeling.
Yu Jung Kim, Assistant Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry .
Jeff Thompson, Associate Provost of Research. The mission of the Office of Academic Research is to provide support and strategic planning to promote faculty and student research, scholarship, and creative activities. Dr. Thompson serves as the chief research officer for the University, works with administrators, deans and faculty to advance the University’s research agenda, and oversees the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. He is responsible for overseeing the University’s research administration and sponsored funding initiatives. Internal faculty development programs and research compliance committees are supported by his office. Dr. Thompson is also a Professor of Biology.
