Research interests:

Microplastics (MPs, <5mm) are pervasive pollutants posing significant threats to ecosystems worldwide. Despite growing awareness of the environmental impacts of MPs, their behaviour and transport in terrestrial environments, particularly in soils, remain poorly understood. This project investigates their dynamics in disturbed and undisturbed soils, aiming to enhance our understanding of their fate in soil ecosystems.

The experimental setup includes small soil columns for saturated flow and larger soil columns for unsaturated flow, with MPs labeled using rhodamine B. Various types of MPs (pristine, aged, and incubated) and concentrations are examined under different flow rates and soil types. Bioturbation factors such as soil critters and root networks are also considered to replicate real-world scenarios.

Fluorescence microscopy aids in identifying and quantifying leached MPs, while advanced technologies like Computed Tomography (CT) provide non-destructive 3D scans to get the preferred pathways for MPs in soil; Developing machine learning (ML) algorithms for image processing can efficiently and accurately automate the quantification and localization of MPs from images and videos, leading to significant reductions in workload.

This research aims to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of MPs' behavior, migration patterns, and aggregation tendencies within soil environments, which is crucial for developing effective mitigation strategies for MPs in soil environments and expand the database for modelling MP transport in soil.

Education:

• 2023 to Present: Research fellow / Doctoral Candidate, Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, Germany
  • SFB 1357, Projects B06: Behaviour and Transport of Microplastics in Disturbed and Undisturbed Soils
• 2020 – 2023: M.Sc. Applied Geosciences (Specialization Applied Crystallography), RWTH Aachen University, Germany
  • Thesis: Adsorption Characteristics of Thallium in Topsoils of Stolberg (Rheinland)
  • 2021- Pause: Parallel major: M.Sc. Engineering Geohazards
• 2021-2022: Erasmus + Exchange Student, Faculty of Science, KU Leuven, Belgium
• 2016 – 2020: B.Eng. Groundwater Science and Engineering (Specialization Water Environmental Science and Engineering) at Jilin University, China, joint with University of Tokyo, Japan.
  • Thesis: The Study of the Response Patterns of Microbial Populations in High Sulfate Groundwater
  • Minor: Clinical Pharmacy
• 2018: Exchange Student and Intern Researcher, Water Treatment Materials and Technologies, Hanyang University, Seoul National University, South Korea

Honors & Awards:

• 2019: National Inspirational Scholarship, Ministry of Education, China
• 2018: University Scholarships, Jilin University
• 2017: Social Work Scholarship, Jilin University
• 2019, 2017: Outstanding Student Leaders of the Year, Jilin University
• 2019: Second Prize, Science and Technology Research Competition, Department of New Energy and Environment, Jilin University
• 2019: Third Prize, "Challenge Goblet" National Student Science and Technology Academic Competition, Ministry of Education, China Association for Science and Technology, China University Union
• 2018: Chemistry & Biology Laboratory Skills Competition, Third Prize, University of Tokyo, Japan
• 2016: Second Prize, Chinese Chemistry Olympiad, CChO, China Chemical Association
• 2015: Second Prize, Chinese National Olympiad in Informatics, China Computer Association (CCA)

Publications:

[Literature all in Chinese], English translation of these Chinese literatures for reference only:

• Liu, Meijun, Lu, Yifan, & Pan, Minghao. (2019). Evaluation of leaching and transport capacities of commonly used pesticides in the subsurface environment in China. Chemical Management, 35.
• Wang, Chaoyong, Dong, Haipeng, Lu, Yifan, Chen, Gengyang, Meng, Jiawang, Wang, Xinlian, ... & Ma Peifang. (2018). Study on TiO_2 self-cleaning anti-reflection film based on glass substrate. Journal of Synthetic Crystals, 47(2), 315-320.
• Lu, Yifan, Lu, Yin, Cai, Hui, Sun, Shoujun & Shi, Weilin. (2020). Analysis of heavy metal pollution and health risk assessment at the lead-acid battery factory legacy site. Environmental Engineering (01), 135-140+189.

Find me also on:

• ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1736-6892
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/luyflee
• Instagram: luyflee