the lang lab | People
| our research team

I was a Ph.D. student with Andrew Murray at Harvard and a post doc with David Botstein at Princeton. I joined the faculty at Lehigh in 2013. My interests comfortably span evolutionary and molecular biology. My lab works mostly on yeast genetics and genomics. I am an instructor for the CSHL Yeast Genetics & Genomics course.
thesis | c.v.

During my Ph.D. I studied aspects of the regulation of the actin cytoskeleton in S. cerevisiae in the laboratory of David Amberg at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Before joining the lab, I was a postdoc at Stanford University, where I developed a sequencing-based method for the detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms, under the supervision of Gavin Sherlock and William Greenleaf. I am interested in the allelic interactions during diploid evolution, and the consequences of historical contingency during adaptation.

I’m generally interested in evolutionary biology and biotechnology. During my Ph.D. with Dr. Jun-Yi Leu at Academia Sinica, I studied hybrid nuclear-mitochondrial incompatibilities in yeast. As a postdoc in Dr. Michael Springer’s lab at Harvard, I developed a system for analyzing complex traits from large-scale variant pools. In addition, I studied how the sugar ratio-sensing behavior in yeast is affected by the environment, and I used barcoded yeast to track objects provenance. At Lehigh, I’m enthusiastic in how pathways evolve in related species.

I received my Bachelor’s in Biotechnology Engineer from The Autonomous University of Queretaro, Mexico. I conducted my undergraduate dissertation thesis at the International Laboratory for Human Genome Research (LIIGH), which consisted of editing Saccharomycotina yeast genomes utilizing CRISPR-Cas9 for artificially construction of interspecies hybrids. I am passionate about rock climbing; the farther my feet are from the ground the better.

I am currently in the College of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh University, pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Biology with a minor in Psychology. Post Lehigh I have the hopes of attending Physicians Assistant school. I became a part of the Lang Lab as microbiology is a growing interest of mine. I am excited to gain more hands-on experience in a research lab and intend to further study the mating pathway of yeast. Outside of the lab, I love spending time with my labradoodle Hurley.

I am pursuing an interdisciplinary B.S. in Biology, Systems Engineering, and Sustainable Development through Lehigh’s IDEAS honors program. I am interested in microbial ecology and genetics and particularly fascinated by fungi. My current work in the lab is focused on hybridization in Saccharomyces species. Upon graduation, I intend to pursue a career in applied microbial research and work to develop biological solutions to climate- and agriculture-related issues. Outside of classes and research, I enjoy reading and spending time outdoors hunting mushrooms or backpacking with friends.