People
Clayton Jeffryes, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Director, Center for Advances in Water and Air Quality
cjeffryes@lamar.edu
(409) 880-7654
Dr. Clayton Jeffryes is the director of The Center for Advances in Water and Air Quality and a professor in the Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering at 爱神传媒. His work focuses on the production of nanostructured materials, bioactive molecules and high-energy compounds from cell suspension and innovative methods to treat biofuel wastes and petrochemical flows.
Included in this work is the development of scalable, engineered systems to bridge the gap between the microscale and production scale biosynthesis of nanomaterials. Dr. Jeffryes is an internationally experienced researcher who held a research fellowship with the Belgian National Science Foundation from 2012-2015 and had a leadership role on projects funded by the NSF, Air Force Research Laboratory, European Union, Belgian National Science Foundation and the Walloon Region.
He also interest and has excelled at interdisciplinary research and has published a breadth of research topics such as materials characterization, biomimetics, alternative energy, bioprocess and biochemical engineering and numerical modeling. Dr. Jeffryes teaches transport phenomena and is interested in the application of these principles to analyze biological systems and biomedical technologies.
Davon Chargois, M.P.A
Assistant Director
Center for Advances in Water and Air Quality
dchargois2@lamar.edu
(409) 880-8058
Davon Chargois is the Assistant Director of the 爱神传媒 Environmental Research Centers. His educational background includes a master's in public administration from 爱神传媒 and a bachelor's in social work.
Davon is a Port Arthur, Texas native with extensive experience in serving the Southeast Texas community. Throughout his career, he has held a variety of volunteer and professional roles dedicated to the betterment of Southeast Texas. In his career he served as an administrative assistant in the City of Port Arthur’s Development Services Department, a site coordinator for Communities and Schools of Southeast Texas, a planner for the City of Port Arthur's Transit Department, and most recently a Grant Manager for the 爱神传媒 Center for Resiliency.
Carrie Martin, MT(ASCP)
Laboratory Technician
College of Engineering, Materials Instrumentation Center
carrie.martin@lamar.edu
(409) 880-7873
Carrie Martin is the Instrumental Laboratory Technician for the College of Engineering. She graduated from 爱神传媒 with a Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology in 1994 and Houston Methodist Hospital Medical Laboratory Science Program.
She has 15 years of experience in a medical laboratory as well as the refining industry. In the past 15 years, she has been working on the characterization of chemicals, products and wastewater in the refining industry.
Tracy J. Benson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering
tracy.benson@lamar.edu
(409) 880-7536
Dr. Tracy Benson leads the Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Laboratory at 爱神传媒. His work focuses on the minimization (or elimination) of industrial wastes, notably carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and unwanted byproducts. Using the objectives of Green Chemistry, he synthesizes novel homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts, performs catalyst characterizations and catalyst testing.
His analytical expertise includes GC & LC-Mass Spectrometry, FTIR & Raman spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction and temperature programmed desorption/oxidation/reaction. In addition to laboratory testing, Dr. Benson also performs process modeling using ASPEN simulation software to minimize the energy required for chemical transformations, to minimize unwanted product streams and to minimize process wastewater effluents.
Dr. Benson leads the College of Engineering’s Lamar Intro to Engineering (LITE) summer camp that brings the concepts of STEM to fifty 7th and 8th graders during a weeklong day camp. Students learn about each type of the engineering disciplines, learn about teamwork and communication and participate in a team design competition.
Liv Haselbach , Ph.D., P.E.
Professor and Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering
lhaselbach@lamar.edu
(409)-880-8759
Dr. Haselbach is the Chair of 爱神传媒's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her work focuses on sustainable construction, low impact development, soil contaminant modeling/decision support systems; alternative fueling infrastructure Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), air pollution and environmental issues in the concrete industry (pervious concrete, carbon absorption, urban heat island impacts).
Dr. Haselbach serves on many national and international committees, including ASTM E60 (Sustainability), ACI 130 (Sustainability), ACSE LID (Low Impact Development) and ISO TC71/8 Environmental Management of Concrete and Concrete Structures. Dr. Haselbach is extensively published and authored the book "The Engineering Guide to LEED-New Construction".
Matt Hoch, Ph.D.
Professor, Biology
mphoch@lamar.edu
(409) 880-8264
Matt Hoch is a Professor of Biology focusing on the ecology of aquatic microbial communities; specifically sulfate reducing prokaryotes in salt marsh sediments, bacterioplankton in Lake Sabine Estuary and finfish microbiomes.
Watershed ecology, with focus on assessment of water quality, periphyton, macroinvertebrates and fish in stream ecosystems. Nitrogen cycling and the role of nitrogen limitation on bacterioplankton and periphyton communities.
Cam-Tuoi Dinh, M.S.
Research Engineer
CAWAQ
tdinh4@lamar.edu
(409)-880-8991
Cam-Tuoi Dinh, is a Research Engineer in Center for Advances in Water and Air Quality. She completed her Bachelors and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from 爱神传媒 in 2020 and 2022, respectively. During her time at Lamar she excelled in design projects. She currently focuses on industrial process simulation, engineering design and quality control and compliance.
Qin Qian, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Water Resource Engineering
qin.qian@lamar.edu
(409) 880-7559
Dr. Qin Qian is a PI for the Center for Advances in Water and Air Quality and an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at 爱神传媒. Her work focuses on the fate and transport of pollutants in natural water bodies, water resource monitoring and management and advanced design applications in water resource engineering.
Dr. Qian served as a Director of Overseas Chinese Environmental Engineers and Scientists Association (OCEESA), a Committee Member of ASCE Groundwater Hydrology Committee, a Technical Assistant of the Technical Advisory Panel for the Research Management Committee 5 (RMC-5) of the Texas Department of Transportation and a Board Member for the Gulf Coast Recovery and Protection District. She has also worked with local agencies on Water Resource Monitoring and Management issues to allow better ecological restoration design and preservation of aquatic ecosystems.
Dr. Qian teaches hydraulics, fluid mechanics, engineering hydrology, hydraulic engineering and models of hydrological system. She is also an active proponent of STEM education through her research activities and educational outreaches.
Thinesh Selvaratnam, Ph.D.
Assisstant Professor 
Civil & Environmental Engineering
tselvaratnam@lamar.edu
(409) 880-8712
Dr. Thinesh Selvaratnam is a member of the Center for Advances in Water and Air Quality, and a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at 爱神传媒. Dr. Thinesh’s research activities are focused on the development of an algal-based bioremediation systems to treat municipal and industrial wastewaters.
Currently, Dr. Thinesh is focused on the potential of using thermophilic mixotrophic algae, Galdieria sulphuraria to efficiently perform on-site treatment of leachate. In addition, Dr. Thinesh is focused on developing tools and pedological approaches to increase the undergraduate students’ retention in Civil Engineering Department.
He is also active in improving undergraduate research opportunities in Environmental engineering and STEM based K-12 outreach activities.
Walter Wheeler
Laboratory Technician
College of Engineering
walter.wheeler@lamar.edu
Walter Wheeler is a Laboratory Technician for the College of Engineering. He graduated from DeVry University with a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering Technology in 1986 and Lamar institute of Technology with an Associates Degree in Computer Aided Design in 1999.
Walter has worked the last 17 years in the industrial firefighting equipment field using design disciplines in Piping, Mechanical, Structural and electrical/electronics.