Lei Xu

Lei Xu MSc

PhD candidate Environmental Fluid Mechanics

Lei has a background in Civil Engineering and obtained the MSc degree in Hydraulics and River Dynamics from the Hohai University with the thesis related to the response of fish behavior to the complex flow structures. The main focus of his work is understanding hydrodynamics, sediment transport and mixing processes of rivers, specifically ones with river confluences. He is fascinated by how water movement shapes large rivers and transports materials like sediments and dissolved substances. Understanding why rivers sometimes mix rapidly and other times slowly has been a compelling puzzle for him. The biggest challenge for him is accurately measuring turbulent, three-dimensional flow in real-world conditions. He has gained valuable experience through field campaigns in river confluences, including those in the Yangtze River basin and Yellow River basin in China, as well as experiments in a hydraulics lab. This hands-on work has deepened his understanding of measurement techniques and sparked ideas for improving flow measurements. With this foundation, He plans to use these insights to develop process-based models that can understand the mechanism of these complex processes.