Joan Lehman
UC Merced alum &
Laboratory Assistant

A lot of people (even my husband) ask me why I came back to school at my 'advanced' age after years of raising children and running a small business. I wish I knew the answer to that. All I can say is that I came back because I've always wanted to and, now at this time of my life, I realized that I could. I have found returning to school challenging, demanding but also very rewarding. With the support of the UC Merced faculty, TAs and my fellow students (and family) I’ve managed to struggle through some tough classes to graduate in May 2008.  

I'm studying the evolution of cardinal fish from marine lakes of Palau - something I never dreamed I would be involved in.  To study the fish morphologically, we have taken a variety of measurements of specimens of three different species from five lagoons and seven marine lakes. These data are being analyzed to compare differences within and between the species. The DNA analysis involves extracting and amplifying the DNA from these fish and sequencing certain genes. These data will be used to build phylogenetic trees so we can compare our morphological information with the DNA data and establish evolutionary rates and relationships between the ancestral lagoon stock and the lake descendents.

Kimberly Yan
UC Merced alum

Research: Compiling data on gene flow correlated with different fluid regimes.