PhD
Bio
I’m Yangyang Yan, a PhD student at Selva Lab. Before joining the lab, I completed my undergraduate degree in Geographical Information Science at Hangzhou Normal University in China, where I first became interested in remote sensing as a tool to study artificial lights at night. I then completed my Master’s degree at the Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Here I used remote sensing to study light pollution in nature reserves, as well as coastal salt marshes dominated by species in the genus Suaeda — a plant known for its distinctive red coloration under specific environmental conditions and during certain periods of the year. For my PhD I’m planning to use remote sensing to beter undestand the ecology of giant trees in tropical forests, including their distribution, dynamics and contributions to forest carbon storage and cycling.
Outside of academia, I enjoy dancing and trying different sports. I went through a phase of being particularly enthusiastic about pilates and hope to get back into it in the future. In my free time, I love travelling, exploring new places, and photographing my encounters with each place!