By: Mira Garin
Kai-Chung Cheng joined San Diego State University’s Imperial Valley campus as an Assistant Professor in Environmental Health this past January. Dr. Cheng’s career in environmental engineering has focused on particulate air pollution such as secondhand smoke from tobacco or marijuana smoking and dust resuspension due to human activities. Americans spend nearly 90% of their time indoors; in many cases air toxic exposures that occur indoors are to blame for health conditions, such as asthma and cancers. “I am interested in indoor air pollution research,” Dr Cheng said, “because of its close connection to everyday lives.”
Imperial County is currently negotiating the Salton Sea’s rapid drying, which is allowing soil polluted with compounds such as selenium and DDT from decades of agricultural runoff to now be resuspended back into the air. Imperial County has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in the entire state of California; this is likely due to its proximity to the Salton Sea. “Living right in the Imperial Valley,” Dr. Cheng said, “I have a unique opportunity to study and better understand this pressing issue local communities are facing.”
“Engineering methods can help generalize field measurements and make predictions; they can be useful for environmental health research,” Dr. Cheng said. For example, using mass transfer principles, we can predict how likely someone will be exposed to respiratory aerosols from an infected person. The results can be applied to not only locations where measurements were taken but many others, based on their varying environmental conditions.
Unlike at San Diego State University’s main campus, the Imperial Valley campus lacks strong, existing infrastructure for STEM research. “Our major work is to establish the first environmental health laboratory in the Imperial Valley,” Dr. Cheng explained. “Everything must start from scratch.” Rather than being intimidated by this challenging task, Dr. Cheng brings an innovative, entrepreneurial spirit to this new effort. “The fun part is that it is like creating a startup company.”
“[After] being in the Bay Area for 15 years, it is a completely new experience moving to the Imperial Valley,” Dr. Cheng reflected. Far from the Bay Area and other metropolitan areas, “there are no longer 99 Ranch Markets and high-tech companies.” However, the adjustment to the border region of Southern California has not fazed Dr. Cheng. “I am surrounded by people who are smiling and treat you like family.”
