News and Events
September 2013
Dr. Cheng attended the 2013 Euro-Asia Economic Forum in Xi'an, China. He presented two talks titled "Green Infrastructure in the US" and "Heavy Metal Contamination in New York City."
June 2013
Congratulations to three students (Suzanne Stempel, Danielle Hagans and Kishan Singh) for winning the 2013 Brownfield Scholarship Award.
March 2013
Congratulations to the Midwood High School interns who conducted their research at ESAC.
Jenny Ng
Jenny Ng was a semifinalist in the Young Naturalist Awards competition sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History for her project "Will Mudballs Containing Effective Microbes Improve Water Quality in Ponds?" She was mentored by Dr. Zhongqi (Joshua) Cheng in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Brooklyn College. The Young Naturalists began in 1998 as a way to reward middle and high school students for outstanding research done in the natural environment. Jenny is the first Midwood Science student to win an award in this competition ever!
Nicholas Lee
Nicholas Lee (Environmental Sciences) received the Environmental Quest: Michael G. Mann Award for projects that promote the objectives and mission of Environmental Quest; to bring awareness to the man-made and natural environment. Project: Creating Soil with Fermented Food Waste.
October 2012
Results of a pilot study on lead in chicken egg at Environmental Sciences Analytical Center were reported in a New York Times article, "High Lead Found in City-Sourced Eggs."
June 2012
Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng's research on the use of effective microbes for food waste composting was reported in an Associated Press article, "Bokashi, Japanese Composting Method, May Be New Food Waste Solution."” The article was picked up by many news media, such as ABC News and Huffington Post.
Congratulations to Tatiana Morina and Jack Lin, both M.S. graduate students in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, for winning the 2012 New York City Brownfield Scholarship.
May 2012
Lumena Louis, a chemistry major student in the MARC Program, presented a poster at the 2012 Brooklyn College Science Day. Her research title was "Lead in Chicken Eggs From Contaminated Urban Backyards: Preliminary Results."
April 2012
The Environmental Sciences Analytical Center hosted the Annual Society of Ecological Restoration Conference (Northeastern and mid-Atlantic sections) with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Three students presented posters: Suzanne Stempel ("Water Conservation to Reduce Wet Weather Pollution Loads to the Gowanus Canal"), Argie Miller ("Carbon Credits for Green Infrastructure Trees") and Tarik Zarrouk ("A Piezometer Method for Quantifying Stormwater Capture by Streetside Bioswales").
June 2011
Congratulations to Suzanne Stempel, a Ph.D. candidate in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Program at CUNY Graduate Center conducting research on "Water Conservation as a Strategy for Stormwater Control and Water Quality Improvement at Gowanus Canal," for winning the 2011 New York City Brownfield Scholarship.
May 2011
Congratulations to Bushra Wazed, a Macaulay Honors College and Premed Program student majoring in chemistry, for winning the First Place Award in the Brooklyn College Science Day poster contest. Her research title was "Revisiting Lead in New York City Tap Water."
Nov. 21, 2010
Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng was interviewed and an article was published on "Planet Brooklyn," regarding lead levels in Brooklyn garden soils.
July 15, 2010
The soil testing service offered by ESAC was mentioned in the article "The Brooklyn Backyard Brigade" (Linewaiter's Gazette, July 15, page 7).
June 21, 2010
Congratulations to Reinbill Maniquez, an M.A. geology candidate, for the 2010 NYC Brownfield Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded annually to outstanding students who wish to pursue a career in environmental sciences or industry.
June 1, 2010
Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng joined the discussion of environmental contamination issues at Gowanus Canal in the online article "Superfund: What Will It Mean for Gowanus?" which appeared in 219 Magazine.
May 28, 2010
Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng gave a presentation, "Heavy Metal Contaminaton in New York City — A Public Health Emergency?" at the Brooklyn College Science Retreat.
May 15, 2010
Congratulations to Leda Lee, an M.A. chemistry candidate who has worked in the lab since 2007 as an undergraduate student, for winning the 1st Place Award among all the graduate posters at the annual Brooklyn College Science Day. Syeda Akhta (M.A., geology) also presented a poster showing preliminary results on her research about the effects of soil P-addition on arsenic mobilization.
May 6, 2010
At the Building Bridges: Community Partnerships and Learning Conference on campus, Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng was invited to serve as a science panelist and gave a presentation titled "Affordable Soil Testing for Brooklyn Gardeners."
March 20, 2010
Representing ESAC, Ahsan Syed tabled at the annual GrowTogether event organized by GreenThumb, one of the largest gardener's organizations in New York City. More than 200 soil testing flyers were distributed. Syed is an undergraduate student in the Macaulay Honors College. Thanks, Ahsan!
March 15, 2010
Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng presented a talk and a poster at the Geological Society of America NE-SE Joint Conference. His talk title was "Urban Soil Contamination: An Obstacle to Successful Urban Agriculture," and the poster was titled "Science and the City: A Water Course for Science Teachers in New York City." He also co-chaired the Environmental Geochemistry and Health Session at the conference.
March 5, 2010
Daniel Slepitsky (Macaulay Honors College student) and Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng attended the MillionTreeNYC Research Symposium, held at the New School in Lower Manhattan. Slepitsky presented a poster titled "Biogeochemistry Within a Stormwater Capture System — The SIMS Metal Recycling Site in Bronx, NY."
Oct. 29, 2009
Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng was invited to give a presention at EPA region II (in Manhattan) the findings about New York City soil contamination.
Oct. 23, 2009
Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng was invited to give a presention at the Department of Biology and Center for the Environment, College of Staten Island, about New York City soil contamination. The talk is part of the seminar series sponsored by Fisher Scientific.
Sept. 21, 2009
Two members of ESAC presented at the 2009 Urban Soil International Conference (SUITMA 5) in New York City. Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng, as one of the conference organizers, was invited to present the group's recent results on the extent of garden soil contamination in New York City and its implications on urban gardening. Together with Dan Walsh, from the mayor's office, and Hannah Shayler, from Cornell Extension, Cheng led a panel discussion of soil contamination in New York City. Leda Lee presented a poster on the analytical aspects of Pb for garden soils.
Aug. 2, 2009
Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng's research on arsenic was featured in the Spring 2009 issue of Brooklyn College Magazine (p. 20).
July 23, 2009
The Environmental Sciences Analytical Center was featured in the "Spotlight on NY's Facilities" section of NYSTAR e Newsletter.
May 26, 2009
Associate Professor Zhongqi Cheng was interviewed by CBS Evening News in a two-minute segment on the soil testing service that ESAC offers to the public and the health risk of soil lead to urban gardeners.
May 14, 2009
The soil testing service that ESAC offers to New York City residents and other gardeners was mentioned in a New York Times article, "For Urban Gardeners, Lead Is a Concern." The article features Frank Meuschke, who did his soil analysis first at ESAC.
May 1, 2009
Congratulations to our student Michael Grinshtein, the second place winner of graduate posters on Brooklyn College Science Day. Grinshtein's presentation title was "Effect of pH and EDTA on Arsenic Speciation in Iron-Rich Water."
