Jessica Lu’s teaching interests are in the areas of analytical, physical, and environmental chemistry. She teaches in the undergraduate B.S. program in Chemistry. Her courses include Analytical Chemistry lecture and lab, where students learn how to detect and quantify chemicals in laboratory and real-world samples, and Physical Chemistry, where students study the underlying physical principles that describe chemical systems. She enjoys integrating the Christian faith with stewardship of the environment through chemistry. Recent examples of environmental concern are: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the Flint Michigan Water Crisis.

Lu is interested in research into the chemical and physical properties of organic compounds in their journey through the environment, building from a molecular-level picture and extending to surfaces and microdroplets. Specific projects have focused on the collection and chemical analysis of tropospheric aerosols, the study of pesticide degradation on environmental surfaces, and the properties of aerosol particles in the atmosphere. She has published in peer-reviewed journals, such as Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.  Lu completed post-doctoral research at Virginia Tech, the University of British Columbia, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland (ETH Zurich).