Judy Yang Receives McKnight Presidential Fellow Award

Judy Yang's Research Group operates under the motto "Small things can have large impacts." She focuses on relationships between small and big tings, like microscopic organisms in soil and landscape evolution. Having her research recognized and supported by a McKnight Presidential Fellow Award is "a great honor," said Yang.

The three-year award is given to faculty who have accomplished the very difficult feat of earning tenure and promotion to associate professor in the same academic year. Recipients must be recommended by their college dean and are then chosen at the discretion of UMN's executive vice president and provost on the basis of excellence in research and scholarship, leadership, potential to build top-tier programs, and ability to advance University of Minnesota priorities. A big benefit for the University is that recipients agree to remain at the University for the full three years of the award, plus one more year. Yang is excited by the possibilities. 

She describes herself as "a passionate environmental scientist interested in developing multiscale and interdisciplinary research to unravel the complex interactions among biota, fluids, and particles (sediment, soil)." Together, Yang and her research group work to address critical environmental questions related to coastal erosion, harmful algal blooms, soil carbon dynamics, and pathogen and contaminant transport in soil and sediment. They design experiments ranging from microfluidic scale experiments to flume experiments.

Yang is also passionate about working with students. She often builds outreach into her research projects and recruits both graduate students and undergraduates to work in her lab. 

We anticipate good work flowing from the Environmental Transport Lab over the next three years. So, friends, stay tuned!