Jiannan Chen is an assistant professor in the UCF Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering. His research encompasses a range of critical areas, including smart barrier materials for waste containment, mining waste and low-level radioactive waste management, slope remediation and stability, and the dynamics of flow and contaminant transport in both saturated and unsaturated soils. He also focuses on advancing life-cycle analysis for solid waste management and resource recovery, aiming to create more sustainable practices in the field.

Chen earned his bachelor's degree in civil and environmental engineering from Southwest Jiaotong University, and his doctorate in the same field from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

He received the 2022 Terracon Foundation Award and was honored with the “Superior” Paper Award at the WM2021 Conference by the U.S. Department of Energy. He was also  named a Top Reviewer for the Journal of Waste Management.  Additionally, he was awarded the Norman Severson Geotechnical Award during his time at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

• Mert, G.†, Zhang, W., Manage, N.†, Mbengue, M.†, Bolyard, S., and Chen, J.* (2023). Survey on the current leachate treatments of public municipal solid waste landfills and the potential impact of per- and polyfluorinatedalkyl substances in the eastern and northwestern united states, Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, 73(8), 638-648. (IF= 2.7).


• He, L.*, Lu, X., Copeland, T.†, Chen, J., Yan, J., and Zhao, W. (2023). The impact of shear rate on the mechanical behavior of rock joints under multiple-influencing factors, Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, 1-18. (IF= 6.518).


• Chen, X., Yu, T., Copeland, T.†, Chen, J., Peng, D.*, and Huang, T. (2023). Influencing factors and controlling mechanisms of polymer elution and hydraulic conductivity of polymer-bentonite geosynthetic clay liners to bauxite liquors, Applied Clay Science, Accepted. (IF= 5.907).


• Pu, H., Wen, X., Min, M.*, Chen, J.*, and Qiu, J.(2023). Analytical Solution for Coupled Water-gas Transport in Landfill Cover. Acta Geotechnica, 1-13. (IF= 5.856).


• Tan, Y., Zhang, P.†, Chen, J.* et al. (2023). Predicting the hydraulic conductivity of compacted soil barriers in landfills using machine learning techniques. Waste Management, 157, 357-366. (IF= 8.816)


• Reinhart, D., Bolyard, S., and Chen, J. (2022). Fate of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in post-consumer products during waste management. Journal of Environmental Engineering (ASCE), 149(4), 03123002. (IF= 1.657)


• Chen, J., Gustitus, S., Lin, H., and Benson, C. (2022). Shear strength of bentonite-polymer composite geosynthetic clay liners and geomembranes. Environmental Geotechnics, 40(XXXX), 1-10. (IF= 2.516)


• Tang, Q, Shi, S., Chen, J.*, et al. (2022). Modeling the influence of microbial growth on the hydraulic properties of porous media. Computers and Geotechnics, 10.1016/j.compgeo.2022.104786. (IF= 4.956)