Qin Leng
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Professor Qin Leng has diverse “global” experiences: Before she came to Bryant in 2009 to teach undergraduate and graduate students, she studied and worked in Stockholm (Sweden), Vienna (Austria), Idaho (USA), and a research institute belonging to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (China). Her trainings in biology (focusing on botany), geology, and global climate change made her a global citizen: She has traveled to many countries and regions all over Asia, Europe, North America, and South America to collect modern, archeological, and fossil plant and sedimentary samples as well as to do research collaborations with colleagues in those countries and regions. She has a passion for her teaching and research on global environments which drove her to travel globally.
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Professor Leng is teaching classes in biology, botany, and environmental sciences. Her classes integrate international components which fit in well with the Global Studies program. Her students have the opportunity to work together with her and her global collaborators on concurrent research programs that led coauthored presentations and publications. For example, in her “SCI 462 Plant Diversity in Ancient and Modern Environments” and “SCI 450 Biological Imaging” courses, students are assigned a portion of one of her on-going research programs to work on material she collected globally, such as to compare different characteristics of various tea samples from various regions, grasses along the ancient Silk Roads, fossil plants from the Arctic and lower latitudes, etc. Students not only are trained with botanical and biological imaging techniques, but also learn about the history of global climate change and its impact on vegetation, civilization, etc.
Why is studying Global Studies important?
It is safe to say that we are living in a truly global world, and everything nowadays has a global imprint. You have to be a global person if you are a natural scientist. Not only biology and geology would transcend geo-political borders, our life is also ultimately impacted by worldwide natural events such as climate changes. It is a commonplace that many environmental issues are global in nature and local changes usually have a global implications. With cell phones and the Internet, people are linked in real time and with the ease of modern transportation, people’s mobility has reached to an unprecedented level. As a result, I believe that Bryant is distinguishing itself among its peers by emphasizing internationalization and global study as a part of our student’s “Bryant Experience.”
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Title
Professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences Office Suite J |
Courses
Nobel Prize in Biological Sciences Biological Imagen Plant Diversity in Ancient and Modern Environments Research Area Botany and Paleobotany |
Languages
England and Chinese Mandarin Education Najang University Chinese Academy of Science in Paleobotany Swedish Museum of Natural History |
Contact: |
If you have any questions about Global Studies or Professor Leng's research, feel free to contact herthrough email or attend office hours.
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