Zhijun Mavis Ding

Biography:

I graduated from Denison University in 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Bachelor of Arts in Data Analytics. During my undergraduate studies, I conducted research on the local adaptation of common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and explored the eco-evolutionary dynamics within experimental microbial communities. I am broadly interested in biodiversity and the ecological and evolutionary dynamics at population and community levels. At UCSB, I will be focusing on the fungal endophytes of plants, expanding my work on plant-microbe interactions and their ecological and evolutionary implications.