Assistant Professor
Environmental Engineering
Benedict College
1600 Harden Street
Columbia, SC 29204
Tel: (803) 705-4868
Fax: (803) 253-6633
Email: chauj@benedict.edu
EDUCATION
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, August 2009
Dissertation: "Bacterial Diversity in Soil as a Function of Soil Texture"
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
M.S. in Environmental Engineering, May 2006
Thesis: “Lattice Boltzmann Modeling of Diffusion Processes in Unsaturated Porous Media”
Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA
B.S. in Mathematics, May 1999
Concentration in Secondary Education
Courses Taught
ENGR 111, 112 Engineering Computing and Skills I & II
ESC 335, 315L Environmental Forensics w/ lab
PENG 311, 312 Junior Seminar I &II
PENG 411, 412 Senior Seminar I & II
Research Interests:
Soil microbial ecology: Microbial community structure in soil is impacted by numerous physical, chemical, and biological factors. I focus on how the pore-scale hydrologic regime, mediated by the physical architecture of soil, impacts microbial interactions.
Vadose zone hydrology and pore-scale fluid modeling: Water flow in unsaturated soil is spatially and temporally dynamic. I use lattice Boltzmann modeling (LBM) to investigate and visualize pore-scale fluid behavior.
Applications: Interactions between soil microbes and pore-scale hydrology mediate biogeochemical cycles from pore- through global-scale, and impact critical environmental challenges including soil fertility, management of the carbon cycle, and water quality.
Other interests: biogeography of microbial eukaryotes, groundwater modeling, groundwater storage as climate change indicator.
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