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Assistant professor, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
Curator, University of Minnesota Herbarium (MIN) Google Scholar My collaborative network on experts@Minnesota 
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Ph.D. candidate (August 2017 – present)
Rebekah is working on phylogenomics and chromosome evolution of the sundews (Drosera, Droseraceae). Google Scholar
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Ph.D. student (June 2019 – present)
Alex is interested in combining plant phylogenomics and biochemistry with ethnobotany. Currently she is working on the evolution of phenylalanine-derived metabolites in Caryophyllales
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Ph.D. student (August 2020 – present)
Aaron is interested in using computational tools to study plant evolution. Currently he is exploring the evolution of abiotic stress tolerance in the Caryophyllales.
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Lab manager (December 2020 – present)
Zack is interested in dispersal, adaptation, and evolution of plants. He is working on plant growth and stress experiments as part of the NSF-funded Caryophyllales metabolite project; he also manages the lab. |
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Ph.D. student (July 2021 – present)
Ben is interested in studying whole genome duplication and the affects of transitioning to carbon concentrating mechanisms of photosynthesis (C4 and CAM) on genome size and structure in the Caryophyllales. Ben's website |
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Postdoc (Aug 2021 – present)
Brett is a postdoc working on stress experiments as part of the NSF-funded spectral biology project. He is co-advised by Nathan Springer, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, and Ya Yang.
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Annika SmeenkUndergraduate student (Jan 2022 – present)
Annika is working on plant care and stress experiment lab work. |
Lab Openings
Postdoc
*Update Spring 2022: currently all funded postdoc positions are filled. However, Ya is happy to work with perspective postdocs with applying for fellowships such as the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB) Deadline: November each year
In addition, check out this comprehensive list for postdoc fellowships.
Graduate Students
*Update Spring 2022: the lab is full at the moment and is not recruiting graduate students for Fall 2022.
Students in the lab are expected to be independent and develop their own dissertation projects on topics related to plant evolution. Ya is affiliated with these two graduate programs:
Plant and Microbial Biological Graduate Program Application deadline: December 1 each year
Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Graduate Program Application deadline: December 1 each year
Internal funds are available for herbarium curatorial assistantship, summer/academic year fellowships, and research awards. Please contact Ya to discuss your interests.
In addition, Ya is happy to assist perspective graduate students with applying for external fellowships such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Deadline: October each year.
Also see general info on applying for graduate school by Casey Dunn
A detailed guide on how to apply for graduate school by current UMN graduate students
Undergraduate students
*Update Spring 2022: the lab is full at the moment and is not recruiting undergraduate students for Summer 2022. Let Ya know if. you are interested in working in the lab Fall 2022!
The lab has many opportunities for motivated undergraduate students, including, but not limited to field collections, basic molecular lab techniques, phylogenetic analyses, and programing projects. Please contact Ya with your CV and a brief description of your interests to discuss potential projects!
*Update Spring 2022: currently all funded postdoc positions are filled. However, Ya is happy to work with perspective postdocs with applying for fellowships such as the NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB) Deadline: November each year
In addition, check out this comprehensive list for postdoc fellowships.
Graduate Students
*Update Spring 2022: the lab is full at the moment and is not recruiting graduate students for Fall 2022.
Students in the lab are expected to be independent and develop their own dissertation projects on topics related to plant evolution. Ya is affiliated with these two graduate programs:
Plant and Microbial Biological Graduate Program Application deadline: December 1 each year
Ecology, Evolution and Behavior Graduate Program Application deadline: December 1 each year
Internal funds are available for herbarium curatorial assistantship, summer/academic year fellowships, and research awards. Please contact Ya to discuss your interests.
In addition, Ya is happy to assist perspective graduate students with applying for external fellowships such as the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Deadline: October each year.
Also see general info on applying for graduate school by Casey Dunn
A detailed guide on how to apply for graduate school by current UMN graduate students
Undergraduate students
*Update Spring 2022: the lab is full at the moment and is not recruiting undergraduate students for Summer 2022. Let Ya know if. you are interested in working in the lab Fall 2022!
The lab has many opportunities for motivated undergraduate students, including, but not limited to field collections, basic molecular lab techniques, phylogenetic analyses, and programing projects. Please contact Ya with your CV and a brief description of your interests to discuss potential projects!
Lab Alumni
Postdocs
Undergraduate students
Lab managers
Visitors
- 10/2017–3/2021 Diego Morales-Briones worked on detecting hybridization and polyploidy from transcriptome and Hyb-Seq datasets. He also played a key role in mentoring many lab members, updating lab protocols and pipelines, and co-teaching workshops. Diego is now a postdoctoral associate with Prof. Gudrun Kadereit at the Munich Botanical Garden, Germany. Google Scholar Diego's website
- 5/2017–4/2019 Lingyun Chen 陈凌云 worked on gene expression analyses in non-model species. He is now a faculty member at the China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China. Google Scholar ResearchGate
Undergraduate students
- 5/2021–9/2021 Erin Boehme worked on character evolution in Drosera.
- 4/2019–7/2019 Ailin Wang helped with stress experiments for her directed study project.
Lab managers
- 3/2017–8/2018 Eileen Yinyin Huang helped with setting up the new lab, kept the lab running, generated RNA-seq data for the lab, and trained several lab members. She is now a PharmD student at the University of Minnesota. LinkedIn ResearchGate
Visitors
- 11–12/2021 Marian Schubert (visiting scholar) Marian visited from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. He worked on developing a proposal on macroevolution of cold tolerance and vernalization in grass. Google Scholar
- 9/2019–9/2020 Nan Lin 林楠 (visiting Ph.D. student) Nan visited from Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She was awarded a China Scholarship Council fellowship to learn phylogenomic methods. ResearchGate
- 10–11/2018: Delphine Tefarikis (visiting Ph.D. student) Delphine visited from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany. She worked with Diego on reticulate evolution and C2 photosynthesis in Salsola (Amaranthaceae). ResearchGate
Lab group pic Sep 2021: Ya, Aaron, Erin, Rebekah, Zack, Ben, and Alex
Lab group pic Dec 2019: Diego, Rebekah, Alex, Nan, and Ya.
Lab group pic Oct 2017 (mising Yinyin): Rebekah, Ya, Diego, Zacky (honorary member from the Weiblen Lab), and Chen.