Yu-Feng Lin

• Professional Geoscientist, since 2014
• Certified Geographic Information Systems Professional, 2011-2019

• Commissioner, Appointee of Illinois Governor, since 2020, Great Lakes Commission
• Delegate, Since 2013, the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR)
• Representative, since 2011, Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI) established by U.S. National Science Foundation
• President, 2025-2026, National Institutes for Water Resources
• Executive Editor, 2017-2026, Groundwater, National Ground Water Association
• Great Lakes Representative, 2023-2024, Board of Directors, National Institutes for Water Resources
• At-Large Representative, 2020-2023, Board of Directors, National Institutes for Water Resources
• Chair of Water Resources, 2020-2023, Board on Natural Resources, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)
• Chair, 2021-2022, Hydrogeology Division, Geological Society of America

• New research points to groundwater as tool for cooling data centers
• Team looking to tap underground ‘thermal batteries’ to cool AI Data centers and save water
• Decades After the U.S. Government Conducted Research Beneath This City, a Promising Clean Energy Technology Returns to Its Roots
• ‘The LED of heating’: cheap geothermal energy system makes US comeback
• Heating Your Home Through Geothermal Power by Wisconsin Public Radio
• The Massive ‘Batteries’ Hidden Beneath Your Feet by WIRED
• PRI Scientists and Students Study Geothermal Exchange Technology on U of I Campus
• Fiber-optic Sensing Enables Precise Temperature Monitoring of Geothermal Exchange System
• A Natural Choice: Mathematica's Role in Natural Resource Studies

* denotes student or postdoc author

• Lin Y.F., 2026. Groundwater in an Evolving Energy Landscape. Groundwater. 64(5): 532-533. Editorial. http://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.70097
• Malpure A.*, A.J. Stumpf, U. Pandey*, Y.F. Lin, C. Bradshaw, 2026, Techno-Economic Comparison of Data Center Cooling Using Magnetic Bearing Chillers and Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage. Energies. 19(17): 3947. https://doi.org/10.3390/en19173947
• Pandey, U.*, A.J. Stumpf, and Y.F. Lin, 2026. Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage: Groundwater for Efficient Data Center Cooling in the United States. Groundwater. 64(4): 394-404. Issue Paper. http://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.70084
• Wang, H-W.*, Y-F. Lin, C-H. Chang*, B-T. Wang*, H. Fujii, Y.F. Lin, K-H. Yang, J-P. Tsai, 2026, Analytical modeling of grout heat storage effects in thermal response tests: Toward faster and more reliable parameter estimation, Case Studies in Thermal Engineering. 78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2026.107695
• Morway E.D., A.M. Provost, C.D. Langevin, J.D. Hughes, M. Russcher, Chen, C-Y.*, and Y.F. Lin. 2025. A new groundwater energy transport model for the MODFLOW 6 hydrologic simulator, Groundwater. 63(3): 409-421. Editor's Choice Paper. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13470
• Zhao, Z*, G. Lv, Y. Xu, Y.F. Lin, P. Wang, and X. Wang. 2024. Enhancing ground source heat pump system design optimization: A stochastic model incorporating transient geological factors and decision variables. Renewable Energy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2024.120279
• Zhao, Z*, Y.F. Lin, A.J. Stumpf, and X. Wang. 2023. Improving LEED-certified building loads on borehole heat exchangers by coupling subsurface variables. Applied Thermal Engineering. 224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2023.120119
• Lin, Y.F., C. Abesser, J. Epting, and A. García-Gil. 2023. Groundwater: A key factor for geothermal energy systems. Groundwater. 61(2): 159-160. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwat.13293