Richard Yu

Dr. Richard Yu is a Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of School (Teaching and Learning) in the School of Environmental and Life Sciences at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He holds a PhD from City University of Hong Kong (2002) and has expertise in molecular toxicology, environmental stressors, and endocrine disruption. His research focuses on developing bioassays for detecting endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques for aquatic wildlife monitoring.

• Education:
  • PhD in Applied Biology, City University of Hong Kong (2002)
  • Bachelor of Science (Applied Biology), City University of Hong Kong
• Research Interests:
  • Mechanisms of endocrine disruption caused by hypoxia and chemicals
  • Development of EDC bioassays and eDNA survey techniques
  • Impact of estrogenic compounds on oyster physiology

His work spans basic science (e.g., molecular mechanisms of EDC effects) and applied research (e.g., diagnostic tools for environmental toxicity). Notable contributions include commercializing a transgenic medaka-based estrogen detection system and contributing to OECD frameworks for EDC testing.

Grants & Awards:

• Team Staff Excellence Award (2024)
• Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Award (2022)
• Industry Engagement Excellence Award (2020)

Advising & Grants: Supervised 6 PhD students and secured $1.01M in grants for projects on EDCs, microplastic-borne pathogens, and saltmarsh metal tolerance. Collaborates with organizations like Hunter Water and Hong Kong biotechnology firms.

Labs/Teams: Part of the Environmental Water Science Group, focusing on aquatic ecotoxicology and environmental monitoring technologies.