She got her Bachelor degree in Environmental Engineering from Tsinghua University, and PhD in Environmental Engineering from Columbia University. She completed her postdoctoral training at Columbia University and University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, respectively. Prior to joining the University of Vermont, she was a visiting scholar at the Water Reuse Center at King Abdulla University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. Dr. Lu’s research interests are at the intersection of water/wastewater engineering and environmental microbiology.