Dr. Chen graduated and received his Ph.D. in Virginia Institute of Marine Science/The College of William and Mary
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Abstract:
Human activities generate large quantities of a variety of environmental contaminants. Most of them are eventually released into marine and freshwater systems. Some contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) are persistent, bioaccumulable, and toxic, and may impair aquatic ecosystem health. Our research aims to utilize a systematic framework to investigate the types and quantities of CECs in aquatic ecosystems and their potential risks to wildlife and ecosystems. This framework employs a combination of field investigations and laboratory model research, and utilize techniques covering analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry, ecotoxicology, toxicology, and ecology. Field investigations study the types, compositions, sources, spatiotemporal distributions, and trophodynamics of CECs in aquatic environments and biota. Laboratory model studies elucidate the migration, environmental transformation, and toxicity of CECs under controlled conditions. By employing this research framework, we have addressed a suite of CECs in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Great Lakes of North America. This talk will briefly introduce the compositions of the research framework and its applications in important marine and freshwater ecosystems as case studies.