Basic Introduction:

Assistant Professor and Ph.D. supervisor, holding both Bachelor's and Doctoral degrees from Tsinghua University. Joined Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in September 2022 and was selected as a High-Level Talent of Shenzhen. Research interests lie in eco-fluvial dynamics, with a focus on the interactions among turbulence structures, sediment transport, and benthic organisms in natural water bodies. Has published over 20 papers in leading journals such as Communications Earth & Environment, Water Resources Research, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, and Physics of Fluids. Principal Investigator of one National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) General Program, and participant in two sub-projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology's Key R&D Program, one Guangdong Provincial Offshore Wind Power Joint Fund project, and one Shenzhen Municipal General Project.

Professional Experience:

2022.09 – Present Assistant Professor, School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology.

2020.04 - 2022.08 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering, University College London.

2018.01 - 2020.01 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering, Texas Tech University.

Education:

2017.07 Ph. D. in Hydraulic Engineering (Modeling Sediment Transport)

Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University

2014.10-2015.10 Joint Ph.D in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cardiff University

2012.07 B.S. in Hydraulic Engineering

Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University

Synergistic Activities:

1. Committee Member of“Marine Geo-disaster and Geo-environment” of International Consortium on Geo-disaster Reduction (ICGdR)

2. Committee Member of the Sediment Professional Committee of the Chinese Hydraulic Engineering Society (CHES)

Awards and Honors:

1. Shenzhen High-Level Talents (Level C)

2. Excellent Graduate of Tsinghua University

3. Excellent Graduate of Universities in Beijing

Research Interests:

1. Environmental Fluid Mechanics

2. Eco-fluvial Dynamics

3. Hyporheic Exchange and the Environmental Imapct

Selected funded projects:

1. 12372383; NSFC; “Study on the interaction mechanism of benthos and transport of water, sediment, and dissolved oxygen at the sediment-water interface”; CNY 530,000; 2024.01 – 2027.12; PI

2. 2024A1515240054, NSFC of Guangdong Province, Numerical simulations of the sediment transport and bed evolution near offshore pile foundations, CNY 300,000; 2024.11 – 2027.10; PI

3. JCYJ20230807093507015, Shenzhen Natural Science Foundation, Influence of vegetations on turbulent structures and sediment transport under wave and currents conditions, CNY 300,000; 2023.11 – 2026.10; PI

4. 2022YFC3201800; Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China; “Research on Hydrological Connectivity Changes and Their Ecological Effects under the New Water-Sediment Situation in the Middle Yangtze River”; CNY 14.6 million; 2022.11- 2026.10; Internal Co-I.

5. 5244290; NSFC; “Academic Salon for Young Scholars in Water Conservancy Engineering -2024”; CNY 10,000; 2024.07 – 2024.12; Co-I

Teaching (Courses and outstanding students)

1. Introduction to Ecology

2. Eco-Fluvial Dynamics

Published Works:

2025:

1. Jiao, M., Wang, K., He, G., Liu, Y. ^*, & Fang, H. (In press) Modeling microplastic transport in open channel flows and ingestion dynamics by benthos, Water Research.

2. Tang, Z., Stoesser, T., Huang, L., Liu, Y. ^*, & Fang, H. (In press) Drag and lift forces on bed spheres in open-channel flow through boulder arrays at various Froude numbers. Journal of Geophysical Research – Earth Surface.

3. Liu, Y. ^*, Stoesser, T. & Fang, H. (In press) Effect of secondary currents on the wall pressure and turbulence structures in partially filled pipes. Journal of Hydraulic Research

4. Tang, Z., Stoesser, T., Huang, L., Liu, Y. ^*, & Fang, H. (2025). Impact of the relative submergence on turbulence structures in open-channel flow through arrays of large spherical roughness elements. Water Resources Research, 61, e2024WR038282.

5. Liu, J., He, G., Wang, K., Liu, Y. ^*, & Fang, H. (2025) Insights into the enhanced flow resistance due to coarsened riverbed sediments via large eddy simulations. Flow, 5:E20.

6. Huang, Y., Zhang, P., Peng, H., Pan, F., Liu, Y. ^*, et al. (2025). Benthic bioturbations weaken the stability of blue carbon storage. National Science Open, 4 2, 20240052.

7. Chen, Z., He, G., Liu, Y., Huang, L., & Dey, S. (2025). Effects of U-burrow bioirrigation on turbulence characteristics. Journal of Hydraulic Research, 63(1), 102-116.

2024:

8. Liu, Y., Tang, Z., Huang, L., Stoesser, T., & Fang, H. (2024). On the role of the Froude number on flow, turbulence, and hyporheic exchange in open-channel flow through boulder arrays. Physics of Fluids. 2024, 36 (9): 095141.

9. Xiao, K., Wu, Y., Pan, F., ..., Liu, Y. ^*, … & Santos, I. R. (2024). Widespread crab burrows enhance greenhouse gas emissions from coastal blue carbon ecosystems. Communications Earth & Environment, 5(1), 437.

10. Li Z., Xiao K., Li Y., Pan F., Li H., Zheng Y. Zheng C., & Liu Y. ^* (2024). Surface water-groundwater interactions drive the spatial variability of dissolved heavy metals and interfacial fluxes in mangrove intertidal zones. Journal of Hydrology, 632, 130884

11. Hei, P., Yang, T., Huang, L., Liu, Y., Yang, J., Shang, Y., ... & Huang, G. (2024). Unraveling eutrophication controversies: Innovative strategies and holistic perspectives. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 1-22.

12. Chen, Z., He, G., Fang, H., Liu, Y., & Dey, S. (2024). Influence of Bioroughness Density on Turbulence Characteristics in Open-Channel Flows. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 150(4), 04024021.

13. Guo, X., Han, F., Liu, Y., Wu, N., Zhang, C., & Zhang, N. (2024). Methods and advances in marine geology and hydrodynamics environment. Frontiers in Marine Science, 11, 1362605.

14. Wang, K., Huang, L., He, G., Liu, Y., Xu, S., He, D., ... & Fang, H. (2024). Crucial Role of Tributary Bays in the Carbon Burial of Three Gorges Reservoir. ACS ES&T Water.

Before SUSTech:

15. Liu, Y., Reible, D., & Hussain, F., (2022). Roles of tidal cycling, hyporheic exchange and bioirrigation on metal release from estuary sediments. Water Resources Research, e2021WR030790.

16. Liu, Y. ^*, Stoesser, T., & Fang, H. (2022). Effect of secondary currents on the flow and turbulence in partially filled pipes. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 938, A16.

17. Liu, Y. ^*, Stoesser, T., & Fang, H., (2022). Impact of turbulence and secondary flow on the water surface in partially-filled pipes. Physics of Fluids, 34, 035123.

18. Adzic, F., Stoesser, T., Liu, Y., & Xie, Z., (2022). LES of supercritical free-surface flow in an open-channel contraction. Journal of Hydraulic Research, 60:4, 628-644.

19. Zhao, C., Fang, H., Liu, Y., Dey, S. & He, G., (2020). Impact of particle shape on saltating mode of bedload transport sheared by turbulent flow. Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, 146(5), p.04020034.

20. Liu, Y., Reible, D., Hussain, F. & Fang, H. (2019). Role of bioroughness, bioirrigation and turbulence on oxygen dynamics at the Sediment-Water Interface. Water Resources Research, 55(10), 8061-8075.

21. Liu, Y., Fang, H., Huang, L., & He, G. (2019). Numerical simulation of the production of three-dimensional sediment dunes. Physics of Fluids, 31(9), 096603.

22. Liu, Y., Stoesser, T., Fang, H., Papanicolaou, A., & Tsakiris, A. G. (2017). Turbulent flow over an array of boulders placed on a rough, permeable bed. Computers & Fluids, 158, 120-132.

23. Fang, H., Liu, Y. ^*, & Stoesser, T. (2017). Influence of boulder concentration on turbulence and sediment transport in open‐channel flow over submerged boulders. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 122(12), 2392-2410.