Open lecture «Assessing soil pollution by heavy metals»

Zhongqi (Joshua) Cheng, a professor at the Brooklyn College of the City University of New York (USA), will give a lecture on Assessing soil pollution by heavy metals on July 25 at 6 pm.

Zhongqi (Joshua) Cheng is a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, director of the Environmental Sciences Analytical Center at Brooklyn College, and a faculty member for the Earth and Environmental Sciences Ph.D. He is an associate editor for the Journal of Environmental Quality. Dr. Cheng is co-founder of the NYC Urban Soils Institute, member of the Healthy Soils Heathy Communities Project.

Dr. Cheng has a background in environmental and analytical geochemistry, with specific training and expertise in contaminants such as lead and arsenic. His research currently focuses on two main topics: urban soil contamination and green infrastructure. Dr. Cheng has authored and co-authored nearly 40 peer-reviewed articles, many which are interdisciplinary by nature.

In 2009, Dr. Cheng initiated a garden soil screening program and since then, developed a non-profit soil testing lab that is currently providing affordable soil screening services to gardeners in New York City and beyond. His soil lab has since built a database of heavy metals levels for over 3,000 urban soil samples from community and home gardens, parks, recreation areas, and tree pits, as well as a unique soil sample repository.