Jiarui (Gary) Lei is an Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). His research focuses on environmental fluid mechanics, coastal and offshore engineering, and nature-based solutions for coastal protection, particularly wave–vegetation–structure interactions. His work combines laboratory experiments, field observations, analytical modeling, numerical simulations, and data-driven approaches to understand how natural and hybrid systems modify hydrodynamics and attenuate wave energy.

Email: jlei@nus.edu.sg

Photo credit: NUS 

Dr. Yushu Xie joined the group in October 2023. She completed her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Auckland. Her previous research examined sediment transport in fluvial and marine environments, using a Smart Sediment Particle alongside flow measurements. Her research interests include hybrid coastal protection solutions.

Dr. Zichen Xu is a Research Fellow working on wave overtopping and the first PhD graduate of the LEI group. She is interested in wave attenuation and blue carbon sequestration by aquatic vegetation, contributing to climate change mitigation and nature-based coastal protection.

Dr. Hari Ram Natarajan is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the group. He earned his MS and PhD from IIT Madras, where his research focused on nature-based coastal protection, wave hydrodynamics, and flow–structure interactions. His work combines laboratory experiments and numerical modelling to address coastal problems. He received the Institute Research Award and the Best Thesis Award in Ocean Engineering from IIT Madras.

Dr. Zhipeng Chen joined the group in October 2026 as a visiting postdoctoral researcher. He obtained his PhD in Harbour, Coastal and Offshore Engineering from Hohai University. His previous research focused on coastal hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and vegetation–flow interactions in salt marsh environments. He has experience in numerical modelling and machine learning, and also explores nature-based and hybrid coastal protection strategies.

Enid joined in August 2024 as a research engineer and is also a PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at NUS. She completed her bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering at NUS and has worked in water management and climate adaptation. Her research focuses on the environmental impacts of hybrid nature-based solutions, particularly sediment and oxygen dynamics.

Xinya Liang joined NUS as a PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering in August 2022. She completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in Coastal Engineering at Tianjin University, with the master's degree through a collaborative programme with Polytech Nice-Sophia. Her research uses computational fluid dynamics to understand sediment transport and hydrodynamics in vegetated aquatic environments.

Guanyi Gao has been a PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at NUS since August 2024. He completed his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering at NUS in 2024. During his undergraduate studies, he combined artificial intelligence and coastal engineering to develop algorithms for monitoring wave speed and period from videos.

Gavan joined NUS and A*STAR as a PhD student in August 2026. He holds a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from NTU and a master's degree in Civil Engineering from NUS. Before his PhD, he worked on flood mitigation projects, gaining experience in numerical modelling and flood risk assessment. His research examines how hybrid coastal protection solutions combine grey infrastructure and coastal ecosystems to enhance resilience.

Baofeng Feng joined NUS as a PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering in August 2026. She completed her master's degree at South China University of Technology. Her research uses physical experiments to understand fluid–structure interactions and hydrodynamics in vegetated aquatic environments.

Changyang Li joined the research group in October 2026 as a PhD student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS). By combining multi-temporal UAV imagery, field observation, and numerical modelling, Changyang investigates how interactions among hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and vegetation influence plant growth and spread. 

Tan Han Siang is pursuing a Master of Engineering in Civil and Environmental Engineering. He holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Dan Fang is a visiting PhD student from East China Normal University (ECNU), researching wave attenuation by spatially heterogeneous vegetation. This work combines field observations, numerical simulations, and statistical methods to investigate how the spatial distribution and random arrangement of vegetation traits influence uncertainty in wave dissipation, with applications to nature-based coastal protection.

Emily is a part-time Master of Engineering student in Civil Engineering and a Research Engineer at the Technology Centre for Offshore and Marine, Singapore (TCOMS). Her work investigates wave attenuation by mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs to inform nature-based solutions and green-grey infrastructure for coastal protection in Singapore.

Jingning Chen has been an MEng student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at NUS since August 2025. He received his bachelor's degree from Southeast University and master's degree from NUS. His research combines artificial intelligence with physics for digital shoreline modeling, particularly vision-based flow velocity prediction.