PhD student Yun Ye Ho (Gardner Lab) received a Graduate Student Research Award ($3,000) from the Society of Systematic Biologists for proposal entitled “Underground Underdogs: unveiling the phylogenetics and pollination biology of Southeast Asian earth figs, Figs, Ficus subser. Geocarpicae (Moraceae), in Borneo.” Yun Ye’s research focuses on the evolution of the “earth figs” of Borneo, a group of fig trees that bear their figs not on the branches or the trunk but on long rooting stolons at ground level or even slightly underground. Her project aims to use DNA sequencing to reveal relationships within this group and describe new species, and analytical chemistry to characterize the volatile organic compounds these plants emit to attract their specialized wasp pollinators.

Congrats Yun Ye!