Yiluan Song

Name: Yiluan Song

College: Graduate

Department: Environmental Studies

What Award/ Scholarship did you receive? Hammett Fellowship Award in Environmental Studies

What year do you expect to graduate? 2023

Where do you call home? Tianjin, China and California, US

With all of the choices for college, what made UC Santa Cruz stand out? I’m extremely attracted by the interdisciplinary focus of the environmental studies PhD program, the wide range of expertise of the faculty, and the close collaboration of different departments.

What is your field of focus?  I use quantitative tools to study the responses of vegetation to global change.

What do you hope to do once you graduate from UC Santa Cruz?  I hope to pursue a career in academia, as a postdoctoral researcher and then a faculty member in a university.

What is one memorable moment that stands out for you as a student here? When I presented the preliminary results of my research at the 9th Biennial UC Santa Cruz Plant Science Symposium, I received many valuable comments and a lot of support from faculty and students from various departments. 

What is your one piece of advice for incoming students about life at UC Santa Cruz?  Get outdoors to see the beautiful redwood forests and coastline. This campus makes it easier than ever to balance your work and life.

What does this scholarship/award mean to you?  The Hammett Fellowship will support my research in the summer of 2021, which will lead to an important chapter in my PhD dissertation focusing on the effects of global changes on plant phenology.