Dr. Chun Yang

Research Scientist - Forensic Oil Spill Identification

Current research and/or projects

Developing scientific methodologies and providing expert advice on fate, detection, identification and distribution of spilled oil hydrocarbons and toxic chemicals in the environment

Development of analytical methods for better identification and quantitation of oil analysis
Fingerprinting analysis of crude oils including oil sands and bitumen, and various petroleum products
Characterization and allocation of petrogenic, pyrogenic and biogenic hydrocarbons in environmental samples
Forensic oil fingerprinting of Birds Oiled-At-Sea (BOAS)
Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) of environmental laboratory.

Professional activities / interests

Conducting research to advance knowledge of oil spill science, developing new analytical technology and methodologies for oil spill studies, and analyzing and interpreting chemical fingerprinting data

Responding to environmental emergencies, both petroleum crude oils/products and chemical spills through technical support and sample analysis

Education and awards

Ph.D., Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Process, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore

M.Sc., Organic-analytical Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China

B.Sc., Organic Chemistry, Beijing Normal University (BNU), China

Key publications

Yang C., Z.D. Wang, Z. Yang, B. Hollebone, B. Fieldhouse, P. Lambert, M. Fingas. Chapter 2: Chemical fingerprints and chromatographic analysis of crude oils and petroleum products, in The Chemistry of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products (ed. Merv Fingas), De Gruyter, Berlin, 2022. pp. 47-124.
Yang C., B. Fieldhouse, A. Waldie, Z. Yang, B. Hollebone, P. Lambert, V. Beaulac. Parallel Quantitation of Salt Dioctyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate (DOSS) and Fingerprinting Analysis of Dispersed Oil in Aqueous Samples. Journal of Hazardous Materials. 435(7): 129046, 2022.
Yang C., Z. Yang, B. Hollebone, B. Fieldhouse, P. Lambert, V. Beaulac. Chemical Fingerprinting of Low Sulfur Fuel Oils using Gas Chromatography-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (GC-QTOF-MS). The Forty-fourth AMOP Technical Seminar, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada, pp. 748-767, 2022.
Yang C., W. Kuang, G. Zhang, S. Mortazavi, A. Doiron, K. Volchek, P. Lambert. Characterization of residual organic matter in oil sands steam assisted gravity drainage produced water Treated by ceramic nanofiltration membranes. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. 208: 10948, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2021.109408.
Yang C., P. Lambert, M. Nguyen, Z. Yang, B.P. Hollebone, B. Fieldhouse, C.E. Brown. Application of gas chromatography-high resolution quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry in fingerprinting analysis of polycyclic aromatic sulfur heterocycles. Journal of Chromatography A. 1630: 461577, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2020.461577
Yang C., G. Zhang, M. Serhan, G. Koivu, Z. Yang, B. Hollebone, P. Lambert, C.E. Brown. Characterization of naphthenic acids in crude oils and refined petroleum products. Fuel. 255: 115846, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2019.115849
Yang C., P. Lambert, G. Zhang, Z. Yang, M. Landriault, B. Hollebone, B. Fieldhouse, F. Mirnaghi, C.E. Brown. Characterization of chemical fingerprints of unconventional Bakken crude oil. Environmental Pollution. 230: 609-620, 2017.
Yang C., M. Kim, C.E. Brown, Z.D. Wang, Z.Y. Yang, B.P. Hollebone, P. Lambert. Chapter 9: Oil fingerprinting analysis using gas chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight (GC-QTOF), in Standard Handbook Oil Spill Environmental Forensics (eds. Scott A. Stout and Zhendi Wang), Elsevier, 2016. pp 450-480.
Yang C., Z. Yang, G. Zhang, B. Hollebone, M. Landriault, Z.D. Wang, P. Lambert, C.E. Brown. Characterization and differentiation of chemical fingerprints of virgin and used lubricating oils for identification of contamination or adulteration sources. Fuel. 163: 271-281, 2016.
Yang C., M. Kim, C.E. Brown, Z.D. Wang, Z.Y. Yang, B.P. Hollebone, P. Lambert. Chapter 9: Oil fingerprinting analysis using gas chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight (GC-QTOF), in Standard Handbook Oil Spill Environmental Forensics (eds. Scott A. Stout and Zhendi Wang), Elsevier, 2016. pp 450-480.
Yang C., G. Zhang, Z.D. Wang, Z. Yang, B. Hollebone, M. Landriault, K. Shah, C.E. Brown. Development of methodology for accurate quantitation of alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in petroleum and oil contaminated environmental samples. Analytical Methods. 6(19): 7760-7771, 2014.
Yang C., Z.D. Wang, Y. Li, Y.R. Liu, K. Shah, B. Hollebone, C.E. Brown, M. Landriault. Aromatic steroids in crude and refined oils and their application in forensic oil spill identification. Environmental Forensics. 14(4): 278-293, 2013.
Yang C., Z.D. Wang, Z.Y. Yang, B. Hollebone, C.E. Brown, M. Landriault, B. Fieldhouse. Chemical fingerprints of Alberta oil sands bitumen and related petroleum products. Environmental Forensics. 12(2): 173-188, 2011.
Yang C., Z.D. Wang, B.P. Hollebone, C.E. Brown, M. Landriault. Characteristics of bicyclic sesquiterpanes in crude oils and petroleum products. Journal of Chromatography A. 1216: 4475-4484, 2009.