Faculty

Program Director

Dr. Parveen Chettri is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth Science & Geography. He teaches courses in Geographic Information Systems and Earth Science. His areas of research interests are Biogeography, Climate Change and Vegetation Response, Mountain Environment, and Geospatial Technology.

Faculty

Dr. John Keyantash is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth Science and Geography, with a specialization in hydroclimatology. He researches drought, using statistical methods to quantify the severity of drought. He is also interested in the timing and quantity of California streamflow, using geographic information systems to analyze the spatial coverage of stream gages within remote drainage basins. He has also used numerical models to estimate the potential effects of climate change on California salmon populations.  He earned his Ph. D. in Civil Engineering (Water Resources Engineering) from UCLA in 2001.

Dr. Ashish Sinha is the current program coordinator. His research is a part of a large international collaborative effort that seeks to quantify the Earth’s natural climate variability on a wide range of time scales. To this end, he and his colleagues employ the state-of-the-art climate models and stable isotope geochemistry of cave-calcite deposits (speleothems) to generate records of past climate from sites across the globe.

Dr. Tianjun Lu is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth Science and Geography. Dr. Lu’s research interests center on using geospatial analysis, data science, and sensor technologies to develop health-promoting cities and communities. To date, his scholarly contribution falls into three areas: (1) quantifying spatial patterns of air quality for exposure assessment, (2) assessing urban form’s impact on air quality, and (3) measuring and modeling non-motorized traffic. He is currently working on developing next-generation urban air quality models with crowd-sourced and new data sources for the contiguous US and exploring active transportation amid COVID-19. An overarching research goal is to ensure the work can improve neighborhood sustainability, facilitate environmental justice, and engage local communities.

Cheyenne Cummings is a lecturer in the Department of Earth Science and Geography. He primarily teaches undergraduate courses and the Environmental Science graduate seminar. His research observes changes in impermeable surfaces within the Los Angeles River Watershed and focuses on understanding natural hazards experienced in metropolitan areas. Currently he is a member of the environmental sustainability team at CSU Dominguez Hills and serves on the annual Earth Day Committee supporting the on campus Festival.