Research Interests
- Biogeochemical cycling of natural organic matter in contemporary and paleo-ecosystems, with a particular focus on understanding interactions between human activities and natural cycles of organic matter;
- Human impacts on water quality, with current projects including:
- organic and inorganic nutrient exports from agricultural watersheds
- fingerprinting organic matter in streams to determine the impacts of septic effluents on surface waters
- impacts of coal mining on groundwater quality in China
- Water quality-quantity connectivity, such as watershed exports of dissolved organic matter and inorganic nutrients during storm events;
- Terrestrial-aquatic linkages through organic matter;
- Biomarker records of mass extinctions recorded in Late Devonian black shales.
Dr. Yuehan Lu analyzes trace compounds (aka. biomarkers) present in source rocks and oils to understand the origin and history of oils.
Dr. Yuehan Lu specializes in organic geochemistry and biogeochemistry. Her research focuses on understanding the source, composition, and fate of organic compounds and pollutants in water and sediments, and she oversees the Molecular Eco-Geochemistry (MEG) Laboratory, which houses instruments for extracting, purifying, separating, quantifying, and identifying organic compounds at trace levels.
Dr. Yuehan Lu uses field measurements and geochemical tracers to understand basin-scale hydrological cycles and their influences on water quality and ecological habitats.
Research Areas
- Energy
- Environmental Geochemistry, Biogeochemistry and Hydrochemistry
- Hydrogeology, Hydrology, and Hydrometeorology
- Paleontology, Paleoclimatology, and Paleoecology
Subject areas:
- Energy
- Environmental Geochemistry, Biogeochemistry, Hydrochemistry
- Hydro3
- Paleo3
