Lu feels lucky to be born in a coastal city, Qingdao, in China, with over half of the country's marine scientists working there. He received his BS in Marine Fisheries at Tianjin Agricultural University before pursuing his Masters in Marine Ecology at the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His Master’s thesis focused on the movement ecology of rockfish with acoustic monitoring methods and related techniques.

In 2013 Lu joined Dr. Berumen's lab as a Ph.D. student to study whale shark movement and behavior. Lu's interests outside research include sports, music collecting, and photography.