Evolutionary genetics
Research Field
Cheng-Ruei Lee has research backgrounds in plant ecology, evolution, genetics, and genomics. His research focuses on understanding the patterns of genetic variation across space and time. Using crops as research targets, his lab currently investigates plant genetic changes during domestication.
We are a diverse international lab, with previous and current members from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and USA.
We use diverse technologies and methodologies to study the genetics underlying evolutionary changes. The research topics vary depending on the applicant's interests and can cover fields such as plant biotechnology experiments, computational analyses, and genomics investigation, among many others. Potential research topics include, but are not limited to:
Comparative genomics of plants under domestication
Assessing stress resistance and life history tradeoff in transgenic plants
Investigating molecular functions of genes controlling seed coat color
Uncovering the historical demography of various plants and animals using population genomics
Assessing the effects of future climate change on the genetic composition of species
Mapping for genes controlling ecologically or agronomically important traits in plants
2023 Ta-You Wu Memorial Award, National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan
2023 Invited Plenary Speaker at Taiwan-Japan Plant Biology Meeting 2023
2023 Invited Plenary Speaker at The 33rd International Conference of Arabidopsis Research
2022 Invited speaker at American Society of Naturalists Vice Presidential Symposium, Evolution Meeting 2022
2022 Young Scholars’ Creativity Award, Foundation for the Advancement of Outstanding Scholarship
2021 Shang-Fa Yang Young Scientist Award
2021 International Outstanding Young Scholar, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan
2020 EMBO Global Investigator Award, EMBO – European Molecular Biology Organization
2018 Outstanding Young Scholar Award 2018, Taiwan Society of Plant Biologists
2018 Young Scholar Fellowship Program, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan
2017 Invited speaker at 2017 Gordon Research Conference: Speciation
2013 Ph.D., Department of Biology, Duke University
2 Vacancies
Job Description
Please contact Cheng-Ruei Lee directly to discuss possibilities.
Preferred Intern Education Level
Undergraduate students or above
Skill sets or Qualities
Applicants with backgrounds in any of the following fields are encouraged: molecular biology, plant biology, microbiology, Linux system, or any programming language.