Current lab members
Bianca Ferreira bianca.ferreira at uconn.edu |
Bianca recently finished her Masters degree at Wits University in the Polyploidy/ Plant Evolution And Speciation (PEAS) lab in South Africa. She helps manage the lab and supports all research activities, in addition to exploring her own research interest in the genetic basis of floral trait variation. In her spare time she enjoys rock climbing, hiking, playing ukulele & flute and botanical illustrations. |
Kathleen Houlihan kathleen.houlihan at uconn.edu |
Kathleen is an undergraduate double majoring in Biology and Mathematics. She is currently working on the genetic basis of flower color variation between the hummingbird-pollinated Mimulus cardinalis and the self-pollinated M. parishii. |
 Steven Jarsen Master Student steven.jarsen at uconn.edu |
Steven joined the lab in September 2021 after finishing his undergraduate education at UConn. He is interested in the molecular mechanisms of ecologically interesting phenotypes. Outside of the lab, Steven likes cooking and playing video games. |
 Amy LaFountainPostdoctoral Fellow amy.lafountain at uconn.edu |
Amy first joined the lab in August 2016 as a Ph.D student. She initiated the project on the genetics, development, and evolution of a novel phenotype in Mimulus verbenaceus, and defended her dissertation in August 2021. She stays in the lab as a postdoc to continue working on the phenotypic novelty project as well as several other projects. Before joining us, Amy worked as a research technician in the UConn Chemistry department and was an expert on chemical analysis of carotenoids. In her spare time, Amy enjoys running, hiking, and watching sitcoms. |
Rong-Chien Lin rong-chien.lin at uconn.edu
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Rong-Chien joined the lab in January 2023. She did her Ph.D on genetics and evolution of floral color variation in Clarkia and Erythronium with Dr. Mark Rausher at Duke University. She then worked with Dr. Ko-Hsuan Chen in Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan to understand the relationships between floral microbes and floral traits. At UConn, she works on the regulatory mechanisms of anthocyanin-based pigmentation patterning in Mimulus. In her spare time, she enjoys birdwatching and hiking. |
Chang Liu cliu706 at gmail.com |
Chang did her undergraduate studies at Sichuan University, China, and obtained her Master degree in Plant Systematics from Idaho State University. She worked as a research technician at University of Georgia and has been working in the lab as a volunteer or part-time technician since 2013. Outside of the lab, Chang enjoys baking, hiking, and spending time with her kids. |
 Ya MinNSF Postdoctoral Fellow ya.min at uconn.edu |
Minya joined the lab in October 2021 after finishing her Ph.D on the developmental mechanism of floral meristem termination in Aquilegia with Dr. Elena Kramer at Harvard University. Now she is taking advantage of the rich genetic resources and functional tools in the Mimulus system to explore the molecular mechanism of symmetry breaking in the floral meristem. In her spare time, Minya enjoys traveling, playing piano, and going to rock concerts. |
 Sarita Muñoz-GómezMaster Student(co-advised with Dr. Cindi Jones) sarita.munoz-gomez at uconn.edu |
Sarita joined the lab in September 2021 after finishing her undergraduate degree at the University of Antioquia, Colombia. She did her undergraduate thesis on the regulation of flower color in the Aristolochiaceae family with Dr. Natalia Pabon-Mora. At UConn She is busy with engineering novel flower pigmentation patterns in Mimulus using a synthetic biology approach. Outside of the lab, Sarita enjoys growing and photographing plants, drawing, painting, and designing stuff. |
 Reese NguyenUndergraduate Student teresa.2.nguyen at uconn.edu |
Reese is an undergraduate majoring in Plant Pathology. She is interested in everything about plants, and is currently working on the genetic control of trichome variation between the bumblebee-pollinated Mimulus lewisii and the self-pollinated M. parishii. |
 Yaowu YuanAssociate Professor Biology / Pharmacy 305A Phone: 860-486-4059 yaowu.yuan at uconn.edu |
Yaowu obtained his B.S. in Biology (2004) from Sichuan University, China, and Ph.D in Plant Systematics (2008) from University of Washington (Seattle). He then received postdoc training at University of Georgia (2009-2010) on plant genomics and transposable elements, and then at University of Washington (2011-2013) on the genetics of plant adaptation and speciation. He has been fascinated by the diversity of flower color and form since undergraduate days. He moved to UConn and set up the lab in 2013 to study exactly that. Outside of the lab, Yaowu enjoys reading the history of science, watching sitcoms, and hiking and fishing with his kids. |
Lab Alumni
PostdocsMei Liang (11/2019-12/2022), currently Professor at Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China. Baoqing Ding (10/2014-02/2021), currently Professor at Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China. |
Graduate StudentsVandana Gurung (08/2016-03/2023), Ph.D student, currently postdoc at Auburn University. Hongfei Chen (01/2019-08/2022), Ph.D student, currently postdoc at Yale University. Qiaoshan Lin (08/2016-08/2022), Ph.D student, currently bioinformatician at University of Chicago. Amy LaFountain (08/2016-08/2021), Ph.D student, currently stays in the lab as postdoc. Hayley McMahon (08/2018-08/2020), Master student, currently Research Scientist at AssayQuant Technologies. Lauren Stanley (08/2014-05/2020), Ph.D student, currently NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Michigan State University. |
TechniciansJanelle Sagawa (08/2013-08/2014), founding member of the lab |
Visiting Students/ScholarsZheng Xiao (03/2019-04/2020), Visiting Professor, Institute of Horticulture, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China Chen Feng (09/2017-09/2018), Visiting Graduate Student, South China Botanical Garden, CAS Jingjian Li (07/2017-07/2018), Visiting Graduate Student, South China Agricultural University, China Arielle Cooley (02/2017-03/2017), Visiting Professor, Whitman College, WA Xuemei Sun (01/2017-06/2017), Visiting Graduate Student, Qinghai University, China Wenjie Chen (11/2015-11/2016), Visiting Professor, Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, CAS Fengjuan Mou (08/2015-08/2016), Visiting Professor, Southwest Forestry University, China |
Undergraduate ResearchersNathan Schaumburger (05/2021-08/2022): SRF Postbaccalaureate Fellowship Program. Lisa Olsen (02/2018-05/2020): Genetic Counseling Graduate Program at University of Arizona Caitlin Foster (01/2018-05/2020): Medical School at University of Connecticut Maussi Arrunategui (09/2017-05/2019) Griffin Struyk (08/2014-05/2017): Medical School at University of Minnesota Connor Hill (05/2015-06/2016): Ph.D program at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Henry Guo (06/2014-05/2016) Sean Reilly (01/2014-05/2016): Physician of Internal Medicine in Philadelphia, PA Alex Dykas (01/2014-12/2014): Software Engineer in Boston, MA Matthew Strobel (08/2013-05/2015): Ph.D. program in Genetics at University of New Hampshire Dominika Bajguz (08/2013-05/2015): Genetic Counselor at Novant Health |
High School StudentsMatt Nunez (summer of 2022) Alicia Mazzura (summer of 2019) Alexandra Kwiecien (summer of 2018) Kiara Monahan (summers of 2016, 2017, 2018) |