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Academic Qualifications

Ph.D. University of California Berkeley

Modules

Environmental Studies: An Interdisciplinary Overview (ENV1101)

Ecology of Terrestrial Environments (LSM3255)

Environmental Challenges: Asian Case Studies II (ENV3102)

Environmental Management in Singapore (ENV4101)

Biological Challenges and Opportunities for Humankind (LSM1111)

Research Interest

Forest ecology and restoration, mangroves, ecosystem functions, landuse impacts and urban ecology

Current projects

1. Forest restoration – examine recovery of dipterocarp forests and experiment with different restoration strategies; use of plant functional traits to investigate responses of plants to the environment and their upscaled effects on ecosystem functions (plant – soil – water relationships); seedling establishment in the wild. Other aspects of the project include community engagement for forest restoration, and the use of technology to facilitate decision-making processes in forest management. 

2. Mangroves – investigate metal pollution, distribution and bioavailability in mangrove ecosystems; adaptive responses of mangroves to changing sea levels; restoring mangrove from past impacts, e.g. land reclamation, aquaculture and ex-oil palm plantations.

Selected Publications

1. Chua, S.C., & Potts, M. D. (2018). The role of plant functional traits in understanding forest recovery in wet tropical secondary forests. Science of The Total Environment, 642, 1252–1262.

2. Sha, J. C. M., Chua, S.C., Chew, P. T., Ibrahim, H., Lua, H. K., Fung, T. K., & Zhang, P. (2018). Small-scale variability in a mosaic tropical rainforest influences habitat use of long-tailed macaques. Primates, 59(2), 163–171. doi:10.1007/s10329-017-0630-y

3. Chua, S.C., Ramage, B. S., & Potts, M. D. (2016). Soil degradation and feedback processes affect long-term recovery of tropical secondary forests. Journal of Vegetation Science, 27(4), 800–811.

4. Chua, S.C., B.S. Ramage, K.M. Ngo, M.D. Potts and S.K.Y. Lum. 2013. Slow recovery of a secondary tropical forest in Southeast Asia. Forest Ecology and Management. 308:153-160.

5. Tanzil, J. T. I., Ooi, S. K., Tay, S. H. X., Ow, Y. X., Chua, S. C., Clews, E., Bolton, A., Raghavan, S., & Liong, S.-Y. (2019-01-01). Tropical Marine and Brackish Ecosystems. in Climate change and non-infectious fish disorders. CABI, 2020, pp. 25–53. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781786393982.0025

6. Goldsmith, G.R., L.S. Comita and C. Chua. 2011. Evidence for arrested succession within a tropical forest fragment in Singapore. Journal of Tropical Ecology. 27, 323–326.