Dr. Chen photo

Jiquan Chen

Professor
E-Mail:  jqchen@msu.edu | Phone: 517-884-1884
ResearchGate | Google Scholar
Editor-in-Chief, Ecological Processes

A native of Shanxi in Northern China, Dr. Chen received his undergraduate education in grassland ecology (Inner Mongolia University), MS in forest ecology (Chinese Academy of Sciences), and PhD in ecosystem Analysis (University of Washington). His postdoc training was in the stream ecology and ecosystem management.  He was a Bullard Fellow at Harvard University (1999-2000).  He was on the faculty at Michigan Tech University (1993-2001) and University of Toledo (2001-2014).

His research and academic instruction programs are on ecosystem processes and their interactive feedbacks to the biophysical and human activities, including community ecology to 3-D canopy structure, forest fragmentation, edge effects, riparian zone, conservation biology, landscape ecology, and micrometeorology.  His current research lies in the coupled effects of global climate change and human activities on terrestrial ecosystems, global change ecology, bioenergy, and carbon/water fluxes.  He will be teaching special topics on coupled human and natural systems, micrometeorological instrumentation & measurements, image processing and GIS, and global change science. 

He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, 2011) and a fellow of Ecological Society of America (ESA, 2014).  Dr. Chen is also the Editor-in-Chief for "Ecological Processes" (SpringerNature) and for two book series: 1) Landscape Ecology (Springer, 2014-2021); and 2) Ecosystem Science and Application –ESA (HEP & De Gruyter).   He is the founder and chief scientist of the US-China Carbon Consortium (USCCC) . He enjoys Thai Chi practice and Buddha Meditation. He is also a member of the Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior (EEBB) Graduate Program and the Environmental Science & Policy Program (ESPP).

Current Members


Michael Abraha

Michael Abraha

Senior Research Associate
E-Mail: abraha@msu.edu
ResearchGate | Google Scholar | CV

Mike is interested in measuring and modeling physical processes in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. His work focuses on the influence of land-use conversions and climate changes on evapotranspiration, carbon dynamics, water use efficiency, nitrogen and methane emissions and life cycle analysis from field-scale croplands using a combination of eddy covariance and static chamber methods.

Mike also worked on measurement and modeling of crop growth and development, soil water balance, solar radiation interception by shrubs, evapotranspiration from sparse trees, and estimation of sensible heat flux from high frequency air temperature measurements using surface renewal and temperature variance methods. 


Raikhan Beisenova

Raikhan Beisenova

Visting Professor
E-Mail: beiseno1@msu.edu
ResearchGate | Google Scholar| CV

 LEES Lab MSU

Dr. Beisenova is the Head of the Environmental Management and Engineering Department of the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Kazakhstan. She studied environmental physiology, toxicology of the effect of rocket fuel on the organism and methods of detoxification of the organism. Currently she is dealing with the problems of environmental pollution, especially with various chemical elements (pharmaceuticals, heavy metals), methods for assessing surface waters with biological indicators (algae), and environmental problems of providing water to rural areas, the impact of pollutants on public health, Transboundary Water Management.

Cheyenne Lei

Cheyenne Lei

Research Fellow
E-Mail: cheylei@umich.edu
ResearchGate | Google Scholar| CV

 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Institute for Global Change Biology,  University of Michigan

Dr. Cheyenne Lei is a research associate in the LEES lab at Michigan State University while being a fulltime research fellow (https://cheyennelei.com/) within the Institute for Global Change Biology at the University of Michigan (https://seas.umich.edu/globalchangebiology). She holds a Masters of Arts in Geography from Western Michigan University and a Bachelor of Science in Earth Science from Northern Michigan University. She is interested in remote sensing, landscape ecology, and coupled human-environment change. Her research analyzes surface reflectivity (albedo) and how it affects the global warming impact of different unique landscapes, ranging from cropping ecosystems, grasslands, to urban regions. Dr. Lei completed her Ph.D. in Geography at Michigan State University with the LEES Lab in August 2022. She is interested in coupled human-environment change, atmospheric physics, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and landscape ecology. She currently helps maintain eddy covariance and micrometeorological towers focused on climate change temporal in multiple unique ecosystems, and teaches research through scientific and public outreach. Cheyenne has earned an MA in Geography from Western Michigan University, and a BS in Earth Science and Geomatics at Northern Michigan University. Her ultimate goal is to develop a research program focused on practical analyses and applications of the drivers of climate change, with a particular focus on the intersection of climate, agriculture, albedo, and climate warming/cooling. When not writing, Cheyenne enjoys playing video games and riding her motorcycle.


Julia Seay Sciusco

Julia (Jules) Seay

REU Student

E-Mail:seayj24@mail.wlu.edu
 

Hey everyone! I’m Julia Seay, but I usually go by Jules. I am a senior at Washington and Lee University with a double major in Environmental Studies - Climate Change Emphasis and Earth & Environmental Geoscience. This past school year, I was awarded the Goldwater and Udall scholarships for my work in environmental research and environmental issues. This summer, I will be conducting research through the GLBRC’s SURP program and look forward to exploring climate and environmental interactions with the Kellogg Biological Station. I also look forward to GLBRC preparing me for a career in graduate research with the hopes that my future research skills can be used for my patent pending bio/geo technology!


Gang Dong

Gang Dong

Research Asspciate
E-Mail:donggang@msu.edu
ResearchGate | Google Scholar | CV

 

Gang is a research associate in the LEES lab. He received his Ph.D. in Ecology from the Northeast Normal University, China in 2011, and a visiting scholar from Southern Research Station of USDA Forest Service, U.S. in 2009. From 2011 to 2023 he worked at the School of Life Science, Shanxi University, China, as an associate professor. His research interests span both ecosystem functioning and modeling. He is a broadly trained ecological scholar with interests in the ecosystem-atmosphere interactions in the natural and managed ecosystems. As the one of the earliest scholars to study carbon-water-energy fluxes in China, He had set up 16 eddy covariance towers across a variety of ecosystems on the Mongolian Plateau. The complete data processing and upscaling code he developed runs validly for the field study. He is also the core member of FLUXNET and US-China Carbon Consortium (USCCC). Much of his work has been on improving the understanding and performance of ecological and hydrological sciences.


Maira Kussainova

Maira Kussainova

Fulbright Visiting Scholar
E-Mail:
ResearchGate | Google Scholar | CV

 

Dr. Maira Kussainova, a highly accomplished PhD scholar in soil science from Kazakhstan, serves as the Head of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at KazNARU. Her research spans agriculture, soil and ecosystem processes, with a focus on precision agriculture, conservation biology, and landscape ecology. Dr. Kussainova is involved in significant international projects, including collaboration with NASA and leading initiatives on water use and climate change mitigation. Starting from the 2023-2024 academic year, she is a prestigious Fulbright visiting researcher at MSU's Landscape Ecology & Ecosystem Science Lab, further elevating her contributions to the field.


Current Collaborators


Ochirbat Batkhishig Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Mongolia
Ranjeet John University of South Dakota
Colt W. Knight University of Maine
Phil Robertson Michigan State University - KBS

LEES Alumni & Associates


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Karrin Alstad California
Weikai Bao Chengdu Institute of Biology, CAS
Runcheng Bi Shangxi Normal University
Mary Bresee USDA Forest Service
Kim Brosofske Michigan Tech University
Xiaoli Cheng Yunnan University
Housen Chu Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Amy Concilio St Edward's University
Connor Crank MSU, Lansing
Mike Deal Ohio EPA (Columbus)
Jared DeForest Ohio University
Sara DEMIR Bursa Technical University
Mario Elia University of Bari, Italy
Eugenie Euskirchen University of Alaska
Shenghua Gao Chinese Academy of Forest Sciences
Yu Gao East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute
Lyn Gerdes Minnesota DNR
Vincenzo Giannico University of Bari, Italy
Chongfeng Gong Sun Yat-Sen University
Beyza Sat Gungor Ozyegin University
Haiqiang Guo Fudan University
Juanjuan Han Southwest University, China
Malanding Jaiteh Columbia University
Ranjeet John University of South Dakota
Maira Kussainova KazNARU, Kazakhstan
Anna Kvashinina Russia
Jacob LaCroix US Fishery and Wildlife (AK)
Jim LeMoine Arizona State University
Fei, Li CAAS
Haitao Li Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS 
Qinglin Li B.C. Forest Service
Xianglan Li Beijing Normal University
Maowei Liang Arizona
Yun Liu Beijing University of Agriculture, China
Dong, Liu Chinese Academy of Sciences
Nan Lu Chinese Academy of Sciences
Siyan Ma University of California - Berkley
Asko Noormets Texas A&M University
Zutao Ouyang Stanford University
Hogeun Park The World Bank, DC
Robert Phillips UT
John Rademacher USDA Forest Service
Mark Rudnicki Michigan Tech University
David Reed University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
Soung Ryu University of Alberta
Sari Saunders BC Forest Service
Jessica Schafer TX
Piero Sciusco University of Bari, Italy
Changlaing Shao Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, CAAS
Gabriela Shirkey Chapman University, Orange, CA
Wei Shen Northeast Forestry University
Janet Silbernagel University of Wisconsin
Bo Song Clemson University
Yahn-Jauh Su Michigan
Lisa (Delp) Taylor  
Jennifer Teeple Michigan State University
Gwen Tenney  
Carolina Vázquez Chun  
Shiqiang Wan Hebei University
Chuankuan Wang Center for Ecological Research of Northeast Forestry University
Xinli Wang Michigan Tech University
Xu Wang Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS)
Surachit Wanggsenthorn  
Radley Watkins Wisconsin
Burkhard Wilske Canada
Ruqun Susie) Wu Susdatability Ltd
Jing Xie Beijing Urban Forestry Division
Jianye Xu NA
Ming Xu Rutgers University
Xuefeng Yu Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jing Yuan California Department of Water Resources
Terenzio Zenone University of Antwerp
Feng Zhang, Ph.D. IBCAS
Wenli Zhang Hunan University of Chinese Medicine
Daolan Zheng Retired
Rui Zhou California