Assistant  Professor in Organic Geochemistry and Biogeochemistry

Contact

+1 (205) 348-1882
yuehan.lu@ua.edu
Office: 2021 Bevill Building
Fax: +1 (205) 348-0818

Department of Geological Sciences
University of Alabama
Box 870338
Tuscaloosa, Al 35487  USA

EDUCATION

B.S. in Geology/Geochemistry, Zhejiang University, China in 2000
M.S. in Environmental Sciences, Zhejiang University, China in 2003
Ph.D. in Oceanography/ Marine Geochemistry, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 2008
(Advisor: Philip A. Meyers)
Mellon Environmental Postdoctoral Fellow, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, College of             William and Mary in 2008-2010
(Advisor: Elizabeth Canuel, Randy Chamber and James Bauer)

RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research focuses on the biogeochemical cycle of organic matter in modern and paleo-ecosystems, using molecular and isotopic approaches. I am particularly interested in the interactions between various human activities and the natural cycles of organic matter. Past and current research projects include:

• Understand the effects of land uses on sources, composition and reactivity of organic matters in headwater streams
• Reconstruct biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nitrogen over the development and recovery of cultural eutrophication in Lake Erie using biomarkers and stable isotopes
• Reconstruction of the hydrological history over past 32k yrs in Yunnan, China using bulk and compound specific carbon isotope of peat deposits
• Developing micro-method for fish lipid analysis

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Y. Lu, P. A. Meyers, B. J. Eadie, J. A. Robbins,  H. Han (2010) δ¹⁵N values in Lake Erie sediments: indicators of nitrogen biogeochemical dynamics during lake eutrophication. Chemical Geology 273: 1-7.
• Y. Lu, P. A Meyers, B. J. Eadie, J. A. Robbins (2010) Carbon cycling in Lake Erie during cultural eutrophication over the last century inferred from the stable carbon isotope composition of sediments, Journal of Paleolimnology 43: 261-272. DOI: 10.1007/s10933-009-9330-y
• Y. Lu, P. A Meyers (2009) Sediment lipid biomarkers as recorders of the contamination and cultural eutrophication of Lake Erie, 1909-2003. Organic Geochemistry 40: 912-921.
• Y.Lu, S. Ludsin, D. Fanslow, S. Pothoven (2008) Comparison of three micro-quantity techniques for measuring total lipids in fish. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 65: 2233-2241.

Graduate and undergraduate student opportunities

Please feel free to contact me if you are interested in working on potential projects in organic geochemistry and biogeochemistry.