Connecticut State The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Yingxue Yu

Department of Environmental Science and Forestry

The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
123 Huntington Street

New Haven, CT 06511

Voice: (203) 974-8522 | Fax: (203) 974-8502
E-mail: Yingxue.Yu@ct.gov

Education

Ph.D., Soil Science, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 2022

M.S., Hydrogeology, China University of Geosciences-Beijing, Beijing, China, 2018

B.Eng., Hydrology and Water Resources Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, China, 2015

 

Expertise

  • Fate and transport of conventional and emerging contaminants (e.g., micro- and nanoplastics, engineered nanomaterials, PFAS, and plant pathogen)
  • Colloidal processes of contaminants in the vadose zone and in the aquatic environment
  • Characterization of water flow and soil physical properties
  • Soil physics and vadose zone hydrology

Career

Assistant Agricultural Scientist II, Department of Environmental Science and Forestry, 2023–present

Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Department of Crop & Soil Sciences, Washington State University, 2022–2023


Past Research

American Chemical Society

American Geophysical Union

European Geosciences Union

American Society of Agronomy

Soil Science Society of America

  

Publications

  1. Yu, Y., Velandia, M., Hayes, D. G., DeVetter, L. W., Miles, C. A., and Flury, M. (2023). Biodegradable plastics as alternatives for polyethylene mulch films. Adv. Agron. [Manuscript accepted for publication].
  2. Astner, A. F., Gillmore, A. B., Yu, Y., Flury, M., DeBruyn, J. M., Schaeffer, S. M., and Hayes, D. G. (2023). Formation, behavior, properties and impact of micro- and nanoplastics on agricultural soil ecosystems (A Review). NanoImpact, 31, 100474, DOI: 10.1016/j.impact.2023.100474
  3. Yu, Y., Astner, A. F., Zahid, T. M., Chowdhury, I., Hayes, D. G., and Flury, M. (2023). Aggregation kinetics and stability of biodegradable nanoplastics in aquatic environments: Effects of UV-weathering and proteins. Water Res. 239, 120018. DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120018
  4. Groenveld, T., Obiero, C., Yu, Y., Flury, M., and Keller, M. (2023). Predawn leaf water potential is not necessarily a good proxy for soil moisture. BMC Plant Biol. 23, 369. DOI: 10.1186/s12870-023-04378-6
  5. Adhikari, K., Astner, A. F., DeBruyn, J. M., Yu, Y., Hayes, D. G., O’Callahan, B. T., and Flury, M. (2023). Interactions of earthworms with polyethylene and PBAT microplastics in soil: Microplastic characterization and microbial community analysis. ACS Agric. Sci. Technol. 3, 340–349, DOI: 10.1021/acsagscitech.2c00333
  6. Yu, Y., Battu, A. K., Varga, T., Denny, A. C., Zahid, T. M., Chowdhury, I., and Flury, M. (2023). Minimal impacts of microplastics on soil physical properties under environmentally relevant concentrations. Environ. Sci. Technol. 57, 5296–5304. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.2c09822
  7. Yu, Y., Sintim, H. Y., Astner, A. F., Hayes, D. G., Bary, A., Zelenyuk, A., Qafoku, O., Kovarik, L., and Flury, M. (2022). Enhanced transport of TiO2 in unsaturated sand and soil after release from biodegradable plastic during composting. Environ. Sci. Technol. 56, 2398–2406, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.1c07169
  8. Griffin-LaHue, D. E., Ghimire, S., Yu, Y., Scheenstra, E. J., Miles, C. A., and Flury, M. (2022). In-field degradation of soil-biodegradable plastic mulch films in a Mediterranean climate. Sci. Total Environ. 806, 150238. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150238
  9. Yu, Y., Griffin-LaHue, D. E., Miles, C. A., Hayes, D. G., and Flury, M. (2021). Are microplastics from biodegradable plastic mulches an environmental concern?. J. Hazard. Mater. Advances, 4, 100024. DOI: 10.1016/j.hazadv.2021.100024
  10. Yu, Y. and Flury, M. (2021). How to take representative samples to quantify microplastic particles in soil?. Sci. Total Environ. 784, 147166. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147166
  11. Yu, Y. and Flury, M. (2021). Current understanding of subsurface transport of micro- and nanoplastics in soil. Vadose Zone J.  20, e20108. DOI: 10.1002/vzj2.20108
  12. Yu, Y., Elliott, M., Chowdhury, I., and Flury, M. (2021). Transport mechanisms of motile and non-motile Phytophthora cactorum zoospores in unsaturated porous media. Water Resour. Res. 57. DOI: 10.1029/2020WR028249
  13. Yu, Y., Zhang, Q., Cui, Y., Shao, J., and Han, Z. (2017). Effects of molar ratio in mixed Na-Ca electrolyte solutions and colloid size on the transport of colloids in saturated porous media. Acta Scientiae Circumstantiae, 38, 1474–1481. DOI: 10.13671/j.hjkxxb.2017.0376 (In Chinese)