Department of Physical Sciences
Department Biographies
Gregory R. Aizin received the M.S. degree in physics (with honors) from Belarus State University, Minsk, Belarus, in 1981, and Ph. D degree in physics from the A. M. Prokhorov Institute of General Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, in 1986. From 1985 to 1994, he has been research scientist in the Laboratory of Theoretical Problems in Microelectronics at the Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. In 1994-1997 he has been visiting research scholar at Hunter College/CUNY. Since 1997 he is professor at the Department of Physical Sciences, Kingsborough College/CUNY and also Physics Doctoral Faculty member at the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. His research has included theoretical studies of transport and collective phenomena in low-dimensional electron systems. His recent research interests include theory of interaction of THz electromagnetic radiation with low-dimensional electron systems in semiconductor nanostructures, and theory of semiconductor devices based on electron systems with reduced dimensionality.
Selected Publications
- Plasma instability and amplified mode switching effect in THz field effect transistors with a grating gate; G. R. Aizin, J. Mikalopas, and M. Shur; Phys. Rev. B 107,21 June 2023; doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.107.245424
- Giant Inverse Faraday effect in a plasmonic crystal ring; G. R. Aizin, J. Mikalopas, and M. Shur; Optics Express Vol. 30, Issue 8, pp. 13733-13744 (2022); doi.org/10.1364/OE.452324
- Plasmonic instabilities in two-dimensional electron channels of variable width; G. R. Aizin, J. Mikalopas, and M. Shur; Phys. Rev. B 101, 245404, 2 June 2020; doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.245404
- Plasma instability in graphene field-effect transistors with a shifted gate; J. Crabb, X. Cantos Roman, J. M. Jornet, G. R. Aizin; Appl. Phys. Lett. 121, 143502 (2022); doi.org/10.1063/5.0111560
- Design of RF to Terahertz and Terahertz to RF Frequency Converters using Variable Width Plasmonic Structures; Shur, M.; Mikalopas, J.; Aizin, G. R.; Frontiers in Optics, Paper# JTu3A.122, 2019; doi.org/10.1364/FIO.2019.JTu3A.122
- Tunable Stub Plasmonic Structures for Terahertz Detectors and Sources; Shur, Michael S.; Aizin, Gregory R.; Mikalopas, J.; Laser Science, Paper# JW4A.75 (2018); doi.org/10.1364/FIO.2018.JW4A.75
- Current-Driven Dyakonov-Shur Instability in Ballistic Nanostructures with a Stub; G. R. Aizin, J. Mikalopas, and M. Shur; Phys. Rev. Applied 10, 064018 7 December 2018; doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.10.064018
Barcena is a Professor in the Department of Physical Sciences, Kingsborough Community College. He is also affiliated with the Earth and Environmental Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center and a Research Associate in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).
Barcena teaches courses in introductory chemistry. As an advocate for undergraduate research in community colleges, he served as the college's Honors Program Director (2017-2021) and CUNY Research Scholars Program Director (2017-2020). As faculty advisor (2017 – 2021) for Phi Theta Kappa National Honors Society, he helped Kingsborough students craft Honors in Action projects to maintain the 5-star status of the chapter. In addition to promoting undergraduate research, his work includes increasing the participation of underrepresented groups (women, minorities, LGBTQ+, and students with disabilities) in STEM.
Barcena’s interest in helping to build communities extend beyond the college. He is a member of the steering committee for the Clinton Community Garden, the oldest community garden in New York City. He further enjoys introducing students to opera by taking them to dress rehearsals at the Metropolitan Opera.
Research Support:
2019 Hands-on NMR Spectroscopy for Metabolic Profiling, Imperial College London
2018 Metabolomics Workshop, University of Alabama at Birmingham
2017 Community College Research Grant Program
Publications with Kingsborough Students (underlined):
Barcena, H.; Maziarz, K. “Chemical Upcycling of Expired Drugs: Synthesis of Guaifenesin Acetonide” J. Chem. Educ. 2017, 94, 1538.
Barcena, H.; Tuachi, A.; Zhang, Y. “Teaching Green Chemistry with Epoxidized Soybean Oil” J. Chem. Educ. 2017, 94, 1314.
Barcena, H.; Chen, P.; Tuachi, A. “Synthetic Anthocyanidins and their Antioxidant Properties” Springerplus 2015, 4, 499.
Barcena, H.; Chen, P. “Eugene the Sleepy Fish: Anaesthetic Drug Demonstration and Antioxidant Activity Experiment.” J. Chem. Educ. 2015 , 93, 202.
Dr. Richard Garavuso earned his doctorate in Theoretical Physics from the University of Oxford in 2004. He is a theoretical high energy particle physicist specializing in String Theory. His research papers can be found here: https://arxiv.org/search/?query=garavuso&searchtype=all&source=header
Dr. Steven Jaret is an Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Science in the Department of Physical Sciences at Kingsborough Community College and in the Earth and Environmental Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center. He also is a Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History.
Dr. Jaret teaches courses in geology and planetary geology with a focus on the surface processes and compositions of all the planets. This includes rocks and minerals, space exploration, and how our home planet is similar and different from other objects in our Solar System. He also is an advocate for science communication and scientific writing, particularly at the undergraduate level.
Dr. Jaret’s research focuses on two areas: 1) meteorites and the impact craters they leave on planets and 2) the regional geology and tectonics of New York City. His work involves a wide variety of analytical and geochemical techniques at both CUNY facilities and at larger regional science facilities (e.g., Brookhaven National Lab and NASA Centers). His regional geology work is ideal for getting students involved in local projects where we can learn about our own neighborhood here in NYC.
Grants Funded:
- 2023 PSC CUNY #66546-00 54: Geologic History of NYC, $5,999
- 2023 NASA Solar System Workings # 80NSSC23K0677, Shock Recovery Experiments and Laboratory Sample Analysis of Lunar-Relevant Plagioclase: Implications for remote observations of the Moon, $862,628
Selected publications:
- Jaret, S. J., Rasbury, E. T., Reiners, P., Thompson, L. M., Hemming, S. R., Thompson, M. S., and Spray, J. G. (2022). Extreme isotopic heterogeneity in impact melt rocks with implications for Mars. Geology (2023) 51 (3): 295–299. https://doi.org/10.1130/G50564.1
- Jaret, S. J., DiPadova, E., Spaeth, L., Yuan, V., Smith, R., Randle, D., Taibly, N., Hammond, K.G., and Ebel, D. S. (2022). Field Guide for the Geology of Central Park and New York City: A teachers guide. American Museum of Natural History, https://www.amnh.org/learn-teach/curriculum-collections/central-park-geology-field-guideDOI: https://doi.org/10.5531/sd.edu.2
- Jaret, S. J., & Scott Harris, R. (2022). No mineralogic or geochemical evidence of impact at Tall el-Hammam, a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea. Scientific Reports, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08216-x
Dr. Hun Bok Jung is an Environmental Geochemist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Sciences at Kingsborough Community College. Dr. Jung has taught a wide range of courses on chemistry, geochemistry, water, environmental science, energy, climate change, and sustainability over the last 10 years at Kingsborough Community College and New Jersey City University.
His research focuses on the geochemical and hydrological processes controlling the transport and fate of toxic contaminants and nutrients in coastal and subsurface environments. Dr. Jung earned his Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 2009. Dr. Jung worked at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a postdoctoral research associate from 2009 to 2014. He has conducted research focusing on groundwater and soil contamination, geologic carbon sequestration, hydraulic fracturing, nanogeochemistry, environmental remediation, and biogeochemical cycling of nutrients and heavy metals in urban estuaries. Dr. Jung has published 30 research papers in peer reviewed journals.
Dr. Jung has supervised a total of 16 undergraduate and high school students to conduct undergraduate summer research projects on temporal and spatial variations of water quality in urban estuaries, transport of nutrients from coastal aquifers to the Newark Bay, and removal of hexavalent chromium by natural sediments of the Newark Bay Estuary.
Selected Publications
- Jung, H.B., Richards, J., Fitzgerald, A. (2021) Temporal and spatial variations of water quality in the Newark Bay Estuary. Regional Studies in Marine Science, 41, 101589.
- Jung, H.B., Xu. H., Roden E.E. (2019) Long-term sorption and desorption of uranium in saprolite subsoil with nanoporous goethite. Applied Geochemistry, 102, 129-138.
- Jung, H.B., Zamora, F., Duzgoren-Aydin, N. S. (2017) Water Quality Monitoring of an Urban Estuary and a Coastal Aquifer Using Field Kits and Meters: A Community-Based Environmental Research Project. Journal of Chemical Education, 94, 1512–1516.
- Jung, H.B., Xu. H., Konishi, H., Roden E.E. (2016) Role of nano-goethite in controlling U (VI) sorption-desorption in subsurface soil. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 169, 80-88.
- Jung, H.B. Carroll, K.C., Kabilan, S., Heldebrant, D.J., Hoyt, D., Zhong, L., Varga, T., Stephens, S., Adams, L., Bonneville, A., Kuprat, A., and Fernandez, C.A. (2015). Stimuli-responsive/rheoreversible hydraulic fracturing fluids as a greener alternative to support geothermal and fossil energy production. Green Chemistry (Royal Society of Chemistry), 17, 2799-2812.
Dr. Patrick Lloyd is an Associate Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Physical Sciences at Kingsborough Community College. Dr. Lloyd teaches courses in general chemistry and science for allied health majors. He is also faculty co-advisor to Common Ground, a club dedicated to multiracial unity and the militant fight against racism.
Dr. Lloyd’s research focuses on two areas: 1) integrating research projects into the freshman-level chemistry curriculum 2) developing green methods of chemical bleaching using enzyme technology.
Grants Funded:
- 2007 National Science Foundation NSF # 0703107 Amount: $896,350.00
- 2005 Senior Staff for The Brooklyn Gateway, NSF # 0525370 Amount: $1,550,000.
- 2004 Application of Peer-Led Team Learning to General Chemistry (amount funded: $2,500)
Selected publications:
- 2010 Lloyd, P.M. and Eckhardt, R.A., Strategies for Improving Retention of Community College Students in the Sciences, Science Educator Journal, Spring V19, N, p. 33.
- 2009 A. Angel, et al., General Chemistry ACS Division of Chemical Education Examination, Exams Institute.
- 2008 Lloyd, P.M., Use of PLTL in Improving Retention and Graduation Rates at Kingsborough Community College, Progressions, V10, N1.
- 2007 A. Angel, et al., General Chemistry ACS Division of Chemical Education Examination, Exams Institute.
- 2006 Lin, Y. and Lloyd, P., An Enzyme Kinetics Experiment for General Chemistry Using Laccase. J. Chem. Ed., v. 83. n. 4, p.638.
Historical geologist who, except when instructing students, prefers her office on the Kinney Rim, Wyoming.
- Adjunct Associate Research Scientist, Columbia University, 2007 – present
- D. 2004, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, Thesis title: "Orbital forcing of continental Eocene climate: Detailed stratigraphy and 40Ar/39Ar dating of the Green River Formation in Wyoming". Advisor: Paul E. Olsen.
- Sc. 1996, Geology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel Thesis title: "Geochemical parameters in the Lisan Formation aragonite: proxies for paleolimnology of Lake Lisan and climatic history of the Dead Sea region" Advisors: Y. Kolodny and M. Stein
- B.Sc. 1990, Computer Sciences, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
GRANTS AWARDED
- PSC/CUNY Professional Development Fund (adjunct), 2018 “X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) core-scanning measurements of deep-sea sediments from the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, in MARUM Bremen, Germany”
- International Ocean Discovery Program, Expedition 381, 2018, Expedition phase: “Corinth Active Rift development”, Post expedition research: "40Ar/39Ar geochronology of volcanic ashes and provenance of sand layers in cores obtained from the Gulf of Corinth, IODP expedition 381".
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
- Machlus, M.L., Shea, E.K., Hemming, S.R., Ramezani, J., Rasbury, E.T., 2020. An assessment of sanidine from the Fire Clay tonstein as a Carboniferous 40Ar/39Ar monitor standard and for inter-method comparison to U-Pb zircon geochronology. Chemical Geology 539, 119485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2020.119485
- McNeill L, Shillington D, Carter G, Everest J, et al. (Expedition 381 Participants*), High- resolution record reveals climate-driven environmental and sedimentary changes in an active rift. Scientific Reports. 2019; 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-40022-w
- Separate chapters of the 2019 IODP proceeding volume 381, https://doi.org/10.14379/iodp.proc.381.2019
Jay Mancini has been a Professor of Physics at Kingsborough Community College since 2004 as well as a Research Professor of Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology.
While at Kingsborough, Dr. Mancini has taught both semesters of Physics with Calculus (PHY 13 & 14) as well as both semesters of General Physics (Physics 11 & 12). Dr. Mancini has also taught several advanced Physics courses while at Kingsborough covering such topics as General Relativity, Electricity and Magnetism as well as Mathematical Methods in Physics. He has also taught Science 25, a pre-clinical requirement for all Kingsborough Nursing students. Dr. Mancini was assigned the task of reorganizing the course when he arrived in 2004. This included a complete rehauling of the entire syllabus as well as the rewriting of the Laboratory Manual. In recognition of his dedication to this course, a former student dedicated a Nursing Scholarship in his name.
Before arriving at Kingsborough, Dr. Mancini had been a Full Professor at Fordham University where he had served two terms as Chair of the Department, during which time the enrollment of Physics majors more than quadrupled. IN 200, he was named Outstanding Professor of the year. While at Fordham, Dr. Mancini taught all of the classes offered in the undergraduate Physics program as well as a graduate course in Electricity & Magnetism. Further he re-established the Fordham Seismic Station which had laid dormant for over thirty years, resulting in feature news coverage by the television News show NY1 as well as a full story in New York Newsday. Further he taught a course in Environmental Physics wherein 30% of the class grade was community service: a precursor to the now popular pedagogical move to get students involved in their community. In this role, a number of community organizations such as Urban Gardens, Riverkeepers etc.. worked with the students to both enhance their educational experience as well as to have them become useful and functioning members of their community. Professor Mancini also has been a visiting Professor at both Argonne National Laboratory, in Illinois as well as at the University of Zurich working with Prof. Peter Meier.
Dr. Mancini’s focus of research is Condensed Matter Physics where he has published over 60 papers in refereed journals as well has having presented over 200 Papers to various Physics Conferences. He is currently involved in theoretical work involving new materials such as Dichalcogenides, graphene and Dice Lattices. He is also actively involved in novel theoretical calculations on the Hubbard Model and its relation to superconductivity.
In 2014 Prof. Mancini was the Principal Investigator on NSF-STEM Grant # 0965875 and was awarded the amount $599,935 which was devoted to the education and support of the Kingsborough STEM students.
John Mikalopas received his Ph. D degree in Engineering from the University of California, Davis in 1993. He was a research scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Research Laboratory, a Postdoctoral Assistant and Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Cincinnati. In 1998, he was appointed as a Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Sciences at Kingsborough Community College of The City University of New York. For 20 years he has served as elected Chair of the Department. His research interests include computational studies of sensing applications of THz technology. He instructs:
EGR2100 – Introduction to Engineering Design
EGR2200 – Introduction to Electric Circuits for Engineers
EGR2300 – Introduction to Thermodynamics for Engineers
Selected Publications
- Plasma instability and amplified mode switching effect in THz field effect transistors with a grating gate; R. Aizin, J. Mikalopas, and M. Shur; Phys. Rev. B 107,21 June 2023; doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.107.245424
- Giant Inverse Faraday effect in a plasmonic crystal ring; G. R. Aizin, J. Mikalopas, and M. Shur; Optics Express Vol. 30, Issue 8, pp. 13733-13744 (2022); doi.org/10.1364/OE.452324
- Plasmonic instabilities in two-dimensional electron channels of variable width; G. R. Aizin, J. Mikalopas, and M. Shur; Phys. Rev. B 101, 245404, 2 June 2020; doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.101.245404
- Design of RF to Terahertz and Terahertz to RF Frequency Converters using Variable Width Plasmonic Structures Shur, M.; Mikalopas, J.; Aizin, G. R.; Frontiers in Optics, Paper# JTu3A.122, 2019; doi.org/10.1364/FIO.2019.JTu3A.122
- Tunable Stub Plasmonic Structures for Terahertz Detectors and Sources; Shur, Michael S.; Aizin, Gregory R.; Mikalopas, J.; Laser Science, Paper# JW4A.75 (2018); doi.org/10.1364/FIO.2018.JW4A.75
- Current-Driven Dyakonov-Shur Instability in Ballistic Nanostructures with a Stub; R. Aizin, J. Mikalopas, and M. Shur; Phys. Rev. Applied 10, 064018 7 December 2018; doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.10.064018
- Current-driven plasmonic boom instability in three-dimensional gated periodic ballistic nanostructures; G. R. Aizin, J. Mikalopas, and M. Shur; Phys. Rev. B 93, 195315, 25 May 2016; doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.195315
Dr. Jisun Park is an expert on noble gas analyses. Mainly she does research on the age dating of the Martian meteorites and Lunar meteorites. Moon rocks from the Apollo mission which NASA sent are one of her research themes. She has studied the chronologies of Martian meteorites and lunar meteorites for nearly 20 years. She has reported the Ar/Ar age of the Itokawa grains from the Hayabusa sample and recently worked on Ryugu grains from Hayabusa2. After her PhD. at the University of Tokyo, she worked at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville Alabama, and Rutgers University, Piscataway New Jersey, in postdoctoral positions. And currently, she is an Associate Professor at Kingsborough Community College, the City University of New York, and a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History. She has also visited Korea Polar Research Institute, Incheon Korea, as Korean Brain-Pool Program Scientist. Still, she has many international collaborations with many scientists from Japan, Korea, and USA.
Selected publications:
Autobiographical Essay Book “Homo-Science: 5 Female Scientists Vol.2” - 5 successful overseas female scientists in the Overseas for the desirable Role Models’ autobiographical book supported by the Korean Federation of Women's Science and Technology Societies. Written by Moon S., Seo E., Kim H., Nak Y., and Park J. (2022) pp. 213, Alma publication (written in Korean).
Okazaki R., Marty Y. N., Busemann H., Hashizume K., Gilmour J.,, Park J.,, Hayabusa2 Initial volatile team members (+113 authors) (2022) Noble gases and nitrogen in Ryugu grains – Records of its past and recent geological activity. Science, Vol, 379, Issue 6634 (DOI: 10.1126/science.abo0431)
Okazaki R., Miura Y. N., Takano Y., Sawada H., Sakamoto K., Park J.,,,,Hayabusa2 Initial volatile team members (+114 authors) (2022) First asteroid gas sample delivered by the Hayabusa2 mission: A treasure box from Ryugu. Science Advances, Vol 8, Issue 46 (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo7239).
Turrin B. D., Lindsay F., Delaney F., Park J., Herzog G. F., and Goodrich C. A. (2022) 40Ar/39Ar ages of L4, H5, EL6 and feldspathic clasts from the Almahata Sitta ureilite (asteroid 2008 TC3). Meteoritics & Planetary Science (https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13953).
Koeberl C., Glass B. P., Schulz T., Wegner W., Giuli G., Cicconi R. C., Trapananti A., Stabile P., Cestelli-Guii M., Park J., Herzog G. F., and Caffee M. W. (2022) Tektite-like glasses from Belize, Central America: Petrography, geochemistry, and search for a possible meteoritic component. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 325, 232-257.
Rao M. N., Nyquist L. E., Asimow P. D., Ross D. K., Sutton S. R., See T.H., Shih C.-Y., Garrison D. H., Wentworth S. J., and Park J. (2021) Shock experiments on basalt – ferric sulfate mixes and their possible relevance to the sulfide bleb-clusters in large impact-melts in shergottites. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13770.
Lindsay F. N., Delanery J. S., Göpel C., Herzog G. F., Hewins R., Humayun M., Nagao K., Nyquist L. E., Park J., Setera J. B., Shih C.-Y., Swisher C. C. III., Zanda B. and Turrin B. D. (2021) 40Ar/39Ar ages of Northwest Africa 7034 and Northwest Africa 7533. Meteoritics & Planetary Science 56, 515-545.
Professor Varattur D. Reddy is an Organic Chemistry Doctoral Faculty at the Graduate Center- CUNY and Director of NMR Facility at Kingsborough. Dr. Varattur Reddy’s research focuses on the synthesis of organic and organometallic compounds as anticancer and anti-Alzheimer’s agents. Organic synthesis involves total synthesis of natural and unnatural products and modified carbohydrates. Organometallic chemistry involves synthesis of novel organometallic catalysts, efficient methodologies for the synthesis of biologically active molecules, bioorganometallics, and drug delivery systems. Research supported by many PSC-CUNY research grants and NSF educational grants. Research facilities at Kingsborough are 400 MHz NMR Facility, IR, GC, and HPLC.
Selected Publications and/or Other Resources
- Reddy, V. D.; Dayal, D.; Szalda, D.J. Cosenza, S.C.; Reddy, M.V.R. " Synthesis and characterization of triruthenium carbonyl incorporating 4-pyridones as potential anti- tumor agents ". Organomet. Chem, 2018, 872, 102.
- Reddy, V. D.; Dayal, D.; Szalda, D.J. Cosenza, S.C.; Reddy, M.V.R. " Ruthenium carbonyl containing 4-pyrones as potent anticancer agents". Organomet. Chem, 2018, 872, 135.
- Reddy, D., Greener Organic Chemistry Experiments 1 A Miniscale and Microscale 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
- Reddy, D., Greener Organic Chemistry Experiments 2 A Miniscale and Microscale 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
- Reddy, D. Organometallic Anticancer Complexes". U.S. Pat. 2012/032507 and Int. Pat. WO 2012/138988 A2.
- Reddy, V. D.; Dayal, D.; Szalda, D.J. Cosenza, S.C.; Reddy, M.V.R. " Synthesis, structures, and anticancer activity of novel organometallic ruthenium-maltol complexes". Organomet. Chem, 2012, 700, 180.
- Reddy, V. D.; Howard, M.; Milien, M. "Attempts to minimize the excess CO2 inearth's atmosphere using ruthenium compound," Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2009, IX, 170
- Reddy, V. D.; Dayal, D.; Cosenza, S.C.; Reddy. M.V. ; Pearl. Jr., W.C.; Adams, R.D. "Glycal ruthenium carbonyl clusters: Synthesis, characterization, and anticancer activity," J.Organomet. Chem, 2009, 694, 959.
- Reddy, V. D. "Synthesis, characterization, and reactivity of a novel ruthenium carbonyl cluster containing tri-O-benzyl-D-glucal as a chiral carbohydrate ligand," Organomet. Chem, 2006, 691, 27.
- Reddy, V.D.; Franck, R.W. "Cleavage and Activation of Benzylidene Lactones with N-Bromosuccinimide," J. Org. Chem. 1993, 58, 6911.
Dr. Weisberg is a Professor of Earth and Planetary Science in the Department of Physical Sciences at Kingsborough Community College and in Earth and Environmental Sciences at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is also a Research Associate in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).
Dr. Weisberg teaches courses in the Earth Sciences and Planetology. He mentors undergraduate student research projects at Kingsborough and for the CUNY-AMNH Research Experience for Undergraduates (summer intern) Program. He teaches graduate courses and serves as PhD advisor for graduate students at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Dr. Weisberg’s research focuses on genesis and alteration histories of chondritic meteorites and comet samples. His work includes integration of petrologic, geochemical and stable isotope data and use of transmitted/reflected light microscope, cathodoluminescence, scanning electron microscope and ion probe (Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy). Specific topics: (1) Petrologic characterization of primitive extraterrestrial materials (meteorites, comet dust). (2) Relationship between primitive solar bodies (e.g., asteroids and comets) and their role in evolution of terrestrial planets. (3) Asteroidal and nebular alteration histories of chondrites. (4) Metal in chondrites and metal/silicate fractionation in the early solar nebula. (5) Reduction history of enstatite chondrites and their relationship to the terrestrial planets. (6) Formation of chondrules, refractory inclusions and aggregational objects in chondrites (chondrule rims, matrix, and dark inclusions.).
Recent Grants Funded:
- 2022-2023 PSC CUNY #65540-00 53: The Record of Hydrothermal Activity in Enstatite Chondrites, $5,688.57
- 2018-2024 NASA Emerging Worlds #80NSSC18K0589: Origin and Thermal History of Enstatite Chondrites, $433,000
Selected publications:
- Goss K. R., Gray M. L., Weisberg M. K. and Ebel D. S (2023) Lewis Cliff 87223, an anomalous enstatite chondrite with implications for origin of Earth. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 58, 433-443. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13962.
- Alpert S. P., Ebel D. S., Weisberg M. K. and Neiman J. (2021) Petrology of the opaque assemblages in unequilibrated ordinary chondrites. Meteoritics and Planetary Science, MAPS 56, 311-330. https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13619.
- Boleaga Y., Weisberg M. K., Friedrich J. M. And Ebel D. S. (2021) The Pecora Escarpment (PCA) 91020 EL3 chondrites and deformation on the EL3 asteroid. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 56, 2144-2154. DOI: 10.1111/maps.13762.
- Rindlisbacher M. A., Weisberg M. K., Ebel D. S. and Alpert S. P. (2021) Metal-rich nodules in anomalous EL3 chondrite Northwest Africa (NWA) 8785. Meteoritics and Planetary Science 56, 960-970.
- Weisberg M. K., Kita, N. T., Fukuda K., Siron G. and Ebel D. S. (2021) Micro-distribution of oxygen isotopes in unequilibrated enstatite chondrites. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 300, 279-295.
Hanying Xu is a Professor in the Department of Physical Sciences at Kingsborough Community College of CUNY, where he has been a faculty member since September 2005. Hanying Xu obtained B.S. degree in Chemistry from Peking University and graduated from Mississippi State University in 2001 with his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry. After graduation, Hanying Xu spent a year and half at Drexel University as an Instructor Postdoctoral Fellow teaching labs of physical chemistry and general chemistry and doing computational research with the faculty members at Drexel. Before joining Kingsborough Community College, Hanying Xu taught Organic Chemistry (II) courses at the University of Georgia at Athens where he was the Organic Laboratory Coordinator. Hanying Xu’s research interest is to use Gaussian suite of programs to conduct computations aiming to gain better understanding of some fundamental concepts and mechanisms in organic chemistry, like, conformation, aromaticity, regio-selectivity in Diels-Alder reactions and nature of bonding in highly strained molecules.
Selected Publications:
- Xu, Hanying; Saebo, Svein; Pittman, Charles U. “The potential energy surface of singlet cyclobutadiene and substituted analogs: a coupled-cluster study”, Structural Chemistry 2014, Vol. 25, No. 2, 635-648 (DOI:10.1007/s11224-013-0352-8)
- Xu, Hanying; Pittman, Charles U.; Saebo, Svein “A coupled-cluster study of linear and rhombic boron nitride dimers: a revisit”, Structural Chemistry 2013, Vol. 24, No. 4, 1383-1393 (DOI:10.1007/s11224-013-0208-2)
- Xu, Hanying; Saebo, Svein; Pittman, Charles U. “A coupled-cluster approach to the relative strains in [1.1.1]propellane, its derivatives and hetero[1.1.1]propellanes”, Molecular Physics: An International Journal at the Interface Between Chemistry and Physics 2012, 110(19-20), 2349-2357 (DOI:10.1080/00268976.2012.680517)
Nelli Nazarov is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Physical Sciences at Kingsborough Community College. She earned a Doctorate degree in Chemistry at Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences. Dr. N. Nazarov has been with the department for 19 years. Dr. Nazarov instructs General chemistry 1100 and 1200 courses. She has 14 patents issued in the Azerbaijan Republic and number of publications in scientific journals. Dr. Nazarov is a strong believer in public education and encourages women participate in science.
In her free time, Dr. Nazarov enjoys reading and playing tennis.