Team Members
Bringing together top interdisciplinary talent, dedicated to exploring the harmonious coexistence of hydraulic engineering and ecosystems.
Liu Defu
Professor (Grade II) · Ph.D. · Founder / Senior Advisor
Eco-hydraulic research seeks to make dam operation harmonious with watershed ecosystems and to sustain their healthy development.
Former Party Secretary and President of Hubei University of Technology, and doctoral supervisor at Wuhan University, Hubei University of Technology and China Three Gorges University. A nationally recognised expert with outstanding contributions, recipient of the State Council Special Government Allowance, a 973 Program chief scientist, and a top-tier member of Hubei’s New Century High-Level Talent Project. He is honorary deputy chair of the Hydraulics Committee of the China Hydraulic Engineering Society and chair of the River–Lake Health Committee of the Hubei Hydraulic Engineering Society.
His work centres on eco-hydraulic engineering. In recent years he has led more than ten major projects — NSFC key grants, 973 Program projects and national major programs for water-pollution control — with over 15 million RMB in funding, and has published more than 200 papers in journals such as Science, Nature Ecology & Evolution, Water Research and the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering. His achievements have earned 17 provincial and national science awards, including a Special Prize of the Dayu Water Science and Technology Award and a First Prize for Science and Technology Progress of Hubei Province.
Focusing on algal blooms in the tributaries of the Three Gorges Reservoir, he revealed the widespread density-stratified currents in tributary bays and identified the “chaos ratio” as the key control on bloom dynamics, and proposed eco-friendly reservoir-operation methods for bloom prevention. His findings on how cascade reservoirs affect nitrogen transport and water-temperature accumulation are recognised at the international leading level.
Liu Ying
Joint China–Austria Ph.D. · Postdoc · Professor · Doctoral Supervisor
Guiding hydraulic engineering with ecological principles, so that rivers and lakes serve society while giving back to nature.
Dean of the Research Institute for River–Lake Systems and Urban Pipe-Network Water-Environment Monitoring, Early-Warning and Assessment, part of the National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Water-Environment Monitoring Technology and Equipment. She is an invited director of the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences, a council member of the Hubei Hydraulic Engineering Society, deputy secretary-general of its River–Lake Health Committee, and a committee member of the Plant Branch of the China Soil and Water Conservation Society.
She teaches courses such as River and Lake Ecological Restoration Engineering, with 11 years of experience supervising professional graduate students, and has collaborated for years with institutions including the Changjiang Survey, Planning, Design and Research Institute. She has undertaken 7 commissioned enterprise projects, led 2 NSFC projects and 1 national key R&D program, and participated in 15 national and provincial projects. She has published over 70 papers (19 SCI-indexed), authored one monograph as first author, co-authored 2 monographs, 2 textbooks and 1 translation, and holds 8 authorized patents.
Faculty & Researchers
The core research strength of professors, associate professors, lecturers and postdocs
Wang Jingyun
Professor · Master's Supervisor
Works on sponge cities, flood-control assessment and water-environment impact assessment. She has led or joined more than 50 hydraulic and water-environment projects, won a China Water Engineering Quality Award and provincial first prizes, edited the Hubei provincial standard for small-lake aquatic ecological restoration (DB42/T 2388-2025), and holds 5 national invention patents. She teaches Hydraulic Structures and Water Supply & Drainage Engineering.
Ma Jun
Joint China–US Ph.D. · Associate Professor · Master's Supervisor
Deputy director of the Hydraulics Committee of the China Hydraulic Engineering Society, deputy director of the MOE Key Laboratory for River–Lake Health, and deputy head of the Hubei field station for Three Gorges Reservoir ecosystems. His research covers reservoir physical processes, algal-bloom mechanisms and water-quality numerical modeling. He has led 5 national projects, joined 5 key enterprise projects, published 20+ papers, co-authored a monograph and won 3 provincial-level awards, and his students have won top prizes in the national student water-environment modeling competition.
Liu Ruifen
Associate Professor · Master's Supervisor · Hubei Chu-Tian Scholar
Teaches Engineering Hydrology with 8 years of graduate supervision experience. She has led 1 NSFC project, published over 20 papers (10+ SCI/EI-indexed) and holds 3 national invention patents.
Zhang Jialei
Associate Professor · Doctoral Supervisor
Focuses on watershed water-pollution control and water-resource optimization, with sustained teaching and research in eco-hydraulics. He has led or joined more than ten national projects, won 2 provincial first prizes and 1 second prize, published 20+ papers (10+ SCI/EI/CSSCI-indexed), holds 7 invention and utility patents, and co-authored a monograph.
Li Yi
Associate Professor · Master's Supervisor · Hubei Chu-Tian Scholar
Director of the Deep Energy Storage Branch of the Chinese Society for Rock Mechanics and Engineering and a young editorial-board member of The Innovation Energy. His research addresses groundwater numerical modeling, including groundwater pollution and multi-phase, multi-field coupling in deep-aquifer energy storage. He teaches Environmental Hydraulics, has led or joined 5 NSFC projects and 8 provincial/enterprise projects, published 40+ papers (30+ SCI), authored 2 monographs, co-edited 2 national standards and holds 3 patents and software copyrights.
Wang Siyang
Associate Professor · Master's Supervisor
Selected for the CAST Young Talent Support Program and a member of the Youth Science and Technology Committee of the China Hydraulic Engineering Society. He teaches Water Affairs Planning and Management and Frontiers of Aquatic Ecological Restoration. He has led 6 NSFC and other projects, published 20+ SCI/EI papers, co-edited 2 standards and holds 9 invention patents, and as a key contributor received a first prize from the China Instrument and Control Society.
Li Linlin
Master's Supervisor · Member, Sediment Committee of the China Hydraulic Engineering Society
Studies ecological river dynamics, including alluvial channel evolution, pollutant transport and surface-water/groundwater interaction. He teaches Hydraulic Structures and Engineering Hydrology. He has led 1 NSFC project and 1 provincial project, holds 4 invention patents, published 25 papers (16 SCI/EI-indexed) and contributed to a monograph and a group standard. He reviews for journals including the Journal of Hydrology.
Feng Jinghong
Lecturer · Ph.D. in Hydraulic Engineering
Conducts fundamental research on river ecological restoration, hyporheic-zone restoration and landscape ecological restoration, focusing on ecological effects and the numerical modeling of microbial nitrogen cycling. She has joined more than 10 national and provincial projects, published 20+ papers (6 SCI-indexed), filed 5 patents, and received a second prize for science and technology from the China Communications and Transportation Association.
Xu Yifan
Lecturer · Master's Supervisor
Member of the Japan Society of Sonochemistry and listed in Japan’s JGRAD doctoral talent database. She teaches Smart Hydraulic Engineering and its Applications and has published 4 SCI/EI papers.
Oluwafemi Adewole ADEYEYE
Postdoctoral Researcher
Works on environmental geoscience, hydrology and eco-environmental modeling, combining partial-least-squares structural-equation models, machine learning and process models to reveal eutrophication dynamics and water-quality evolution. He has published 15+ international papers (13 SCI-indexed), reviews for journals such as Science of the Total Environment, and has received a China Postdoctoral Science Foundation grant and a Nigerian PTDF overseas scholarship.
Join Us
We welcome graduate students with backgrounds in hydraulic engineering, ecology, environmental science, fluid mechanics, or computational modeling.
View Open Positions arrow_forward