Yang Bian was a research assistant and PhD student at NC State University. He has an agricultural and biology background with higher interests in statistics and analytical skills. In the last few years, he has been working on GWAS, QTL mapping, and genome-wide prediction for maize quantitative traits.

 

Why I Became a Scientist:

Statistics has been my favorite subject since I studied it in college. I gradually realized that statistics is an indispensable tool for all quantitative inference in genetics – it creates one philosophical view of describing what the world looks like. During graduate school, I took as many statistical courses as I thought I could understand, with the hope to become a statistical geneticist one day. Prior to entering the Maize Breeding and Genetics program in NCSU, there came an opportunity to study in Advanced Analytics, which is an intensive program running 11 months from beginning to end and included integrated curriculum tailored to produce a well-rounded analytic professional. In Analytics, I enjoyed and often applied various topics.

 

My interests in PhD studies stemmed from my dual passions for statistics and genetics. The search topics include QTL mapping, genome-wide association studies, and genome-wide prediction, all of which use a great deal of both statistical concepts and analytic skills. As a further step, I believe that the statistics and analytics will realize my venture into newer areas, and I hope to expand the realm of the current paradigm in my research. Besides of having the requisite knowledge, my curiosity and strong will to realize goals often drive me to find the niche in the exploration.

 

Education:

Ph.D.  expected Spring 2016     Crop Science

M.S. Advanced Analytics, Horticultural Science

B.S.  Horticulture