Education:

2011.09-2017.06, M.Sc. and Ph.D., Environmental Science and Engineering, California Institute of Technology (Advisor: Victoria J. Orphan)

2006.09-2010.05, B.Sc., Honors in Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia (Advisor: William W. Mohn)

Research interests:

Microbial Diversity and Metabolic Functions

1. Dissecting natural microbial community dynamics and biogeochemical cycles

2. Investigating microbial and ecosystem responses to our changing environment

3. Exploring and utilizing the extreme microbial genetic and function potentials

Academic experiences:

2022.12-, Assistant Professor, Peking University

2020.07-2022.06, Postdoc, University of Southern California (Advisor: Moh Y. El-Naggar)

2017.08-2020.02, Postdoc, California Institute of Technology (Advisors: Victoria J. Orphan and Jared R. Leadbetter)

2010.06-2010.12, Research Assistant, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (Advisors: Sebastian Sudek and Alexandra Z. Worden)

2009.01-2009.10, Team Member, UBC International Genetically Engineered Machines iGEM Inangural Team (Gold Medal)

Selected publications:

Full publication list: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=3no8Uy8AAAAJ

(*=corresponding authors)

Yu, H.*, Xu, S., Jangir, Y., Wegener, G., Orphan, V.J.*, and El-Naggar, M.Y.* (2025) Redox conduction facilitates direct interspecies electron transport in anaerobic methanotrophic consortia. Science Advances. eadw4289. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adw4289

Yu, H.*, Speth, D.R., Connon, S.A., Goudeau, D., Malmstrom, R.R., Woyke, T., and Orphan, V.J.* (2022) Community structure and microbial associations in sediment-free methanotrophic enrichment cultures from a marine methane seep. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. e02109-21. https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.02109-21

Yu, H.*, Chadwick, G.L., Lingappa, U.F., and Leadbetter J.R.* (2022) Comparative genomics on cultivated and uncultivated, freshwater and marine “CandidatusManganitrophaceae” species implies their worldwide reach in manganese chemolithoautotrophy. mBio. 13 (2), e03421-21. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.03421-21

Yu, H., Skennerton, C.T., Chadwick, G.L., Leu, A.O., Aoki, M., Tyson, G.W., and Orphan V.J. (2022) Sulfate differentially stimulates but is not respired by diverse anaerobic methanotrophic archaea. The ISME Journal 16, 168–177. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-021-01047-0 (Editors’ Choice)

Yu, H., Leadbetter, J.R. (2020) Bacterial chemolithoautotrophy via manganese oxidation. Nature 583, 453–458. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2468-5 (Nature Cover)