Hi, I'm Songyan (Sunny) Yu and my Chinese name is 于松延. I'm currently working as senior hydraulic engineer with the Gold Coast City Council, providing information for flood forecast and management. Before joining the Council in Nov 2023, I used to work as a scientific researcher working on rivers and lakes at Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University in Australia for four years (2019-2023). My research was used to inform the management of river catchments and lakes.

My recent research work focuses on climate change impact and adaption:

• I led a research project to model surface water availability across river catchments to inform water security for freshwater biodiversity and human society under climate change.
• I was a chief investigator of a project assessing health risks of purified recycled water as a supplementary and climate resilient water source introduced to reservoirs.
• My lake-related research has been used to inform the Gold Coast City Council of nutrient reduction in a recreational lake and support water utilities for climate change adaption.

I also have a research interest in better understanding the hydro-ecology of non-perennial streams. Since PhD, I have developped a strong interest in exploring the spatio-temporal dynamics and hydro-ecology of non-perennial streams in eastern Australia. The focus is on quantifying spatial and temporal patterns of flow intermittency, identifying aquatic habitat refuges across river networks, and prioritising river segments for efficient management.

I like computer programming and have developed an R package “dycdtools”, which can help lake modelers calibrate a widely used 1-D lake model DYRESM-CAEDYM and post-process model outputs for easy interpretation.

If you find anything interesting in my research, you're welcome to reach out to me via email.