Bio
Mengjun is an R&D Associate Staff Member in the Biosciences Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Her research centers on uncovering the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying tree responses to environmental stress, with a particular focus on improving tree sustainability and performance under diverse conditions. Mengjun applies a range of approaches, including genome-wide association studies (GWAS), genotype-by-environment analyses, and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) mapping, to investigate complex biological questions in systems like Populus trichocarpa. Her expertise in high-throughput sequencing, statistical genetics, and bioinformatics enables her to drive research that links genetic variation with ecologically important traits.
She actively collaborates on interdisciplinary projects and mentors students and early-career researchers. Mengjun earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Systems from the University of California, Merced, where she conducted pioneering work in association genetics of drought tolerance in Pinus ponderosa, and holds a B.S. in Geography Science from Sun Yat-Sen University in China.