Dr. Yu Gu completed her B. S. degree in Meteorology with honor from Peking University, China, in 1988. She received her M.S. from Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences in 1991, and her Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2000. She was an Assistant Researcher at UCLA from 2001 to 2005, an Associate Researcher from 2005 to 2012, and has been a full Researcher since 2012. Dr. Gu’s research focuses on cloud, atmospheric radiation, aerosol/air pollution, and climate change. She has been serving as Principal Investigators or Co-Investigators for a number of NSF, DOE, and JPL/NASA programs. In recognition of her academic achievements, Dr. Gu received the UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship, the American Geophysical Union Outstanding Student Paper Award, the "Jacob A. Bjerknes Memorial Award" in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, and the Alan Berman Research Publication Award by the Department of the Navy. Dr. Gu has been an Associate Editor of Journal of Meteorological Research since 2014, and a regular reviewer for many professional journals and a number of funding agencies. To promote academic exchange and collaboration, she has also helped to organize numerous national and international conferences in the atmospheric science field.

As an Associate Director of Operations, Dr. Gu’s role will be to pursue joint grant opportunities between UCLA faculty and JPL scientists; assist the JIFRESSE Director in developing academic and research matters important to both UCLA and JPL; assist with the organization of seminars, workshops, and other types of educational activities of interest to UCLA and JPL within the purview of regional climate and environmental change; and further develop existing collaborations and joint funding programs between scientists from JIFRESSE and other institutions.