I am a post-doctoral researcher at BGU. My primary research interest resides in community ecology and global change ecology. How interacting species respond to a key global change factor or co-occurring global change factors via different tactics (e.g. plasticity, evolution, and evolution of plasticity), and how this affects ecosystem dynamics and functioning, are the key questions that drive most of my research activities. I have worked on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, applying long-term common garden experiments, field observations, statistical analyses, and modeling in my research.
Professional Experiences
2023/03 - current Post-doctoral fellow: Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
2021/06 - 2021/09 Research associate: Unit of Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation, KU Leuven
2017/06 - 2021/06 Doctoral fellow: Unit of Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation, KU Leuven
2016/09 - 2017/02 Research assistant: Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University
2015/12 - 2016/07 Research assistant: Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University
2013/06 - 2015/10 Research assistant: Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University
2013/02 - 2013/06 Teaching assistant: Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University
Education
2017/06 - 2021/09 Unit of Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), PhD
2012/09 - 2015/10 Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, National Taiwan University, MSc (GPA 4.08/4.3)
2008/09 - 2012/06 Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University, BA (GPA 4.0/4.3)
Publications (click here for my Google Scholar profile)
Peer-reviewed Articles
Wang, Y. J., Tüzün, N., DeMeester, L., Feuchtmayr, H., Sentis, A., & Stoks, R. (2022). Rapid evolution of unimodal but not of linear thermal performance curves in Daphnia magna. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 290, 20222289. (doi: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2289)
Carbonell, J. A., Wang, Y. J., Sentis, A., & Stoks, R. (2022). Evolution of predator-prey interactions during range expansion in an aquatic insect predator. Functional Ecology, 36, 3060-3072. (doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.14208)
Wang, Y. J., Tüzün, N., Sentis, A., & Stoks, R. (2022). Thermal plasticity and evolution shape predator-prey interactions differently in clear and turbid water bodies. Journal of Animal Ecology, 91, 883-894. (doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13680)
Wang, Y. J., Sentis, A., Tüzün, N., & Stoks, R. (2021). Thermal evolution ameliorates the long‐term plastic effects of warming, temperature fluctuations and heat waves on predator‐prey interaction strength. Functional Ecology, 35, 1538-1549. (doi: 10.1111/1365-2435.13810)
Carbonell, J. A., Wang, Y. J., & Stoks, R. (2021). Evolution of cold tolerance and thermal plasticity in life history, behaviour and physiology during a poleward range expansion. Journal of Animal Ecology, 90, 1666-1677. (doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.13482)
Wang, Y. J., Stoks, R., Sentis, A., & Tüzün, N. (2020). Support for the climatic variability hypothesis depends on the type of thermal plasticity: lessons from predation rates. Oikos, 129, 1040-1050. (doi: 10.1111/oik.07181)
Wang, Y. J., Nakazawa, T., & Ho, C. K. (2017). Warming impact on herbivore population composition affects top-down control by predators. Scientific Reports, 7, 941. (doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-01155-y)
Peer-reviewed Books/Monographs
Wang, Y. J. (2015). Experimental warming effects on the population growth and composition of a crop pest (soybean aphid) and the consequences for pest colonization under biocontrol. Master thesis. National Taiwan University, Taipei. URL: http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw/handle/246246/272635
Wang, Y. J. (2021). Effects of global warming on trophic interactions in ponds: an experimental approach. PhD thesis. KU Leuven, Leuven. Currently only internally accessible from the KU Leuven library and the KU Leuven intranet.
Awards & Grants
Post-doctoral Fellowship (2023-) from Kreitman School Research Committee of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Taiwan-KU Leuven Doctoral Scholarship (2017-2021) from Ministry of Education, Taiwan, and KU Leuven and Flanders Research Foundation (FWO), Belgium
Excellent Award, English Presentation Award (2015) from the 62th Annual Meeting of Ecological Society of Japan
Outstanding Students Conference Travel Grant (2015) from Foundation for the Advancement of Outstanding Scholarship, Taiwan
Conference Travel Grant for Master Student (2015) from College of Life Science, National Taiwan University
Honorable Mention (2015) from Congress of Animal Behavior & Ecology, Taiwan
Director’s Award (2014) from NTU & NTNU Joint Symposium on Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Taiwan
Outstanding Graduation Student Award (2012) from College of Science, National Taiwan Normal University
Academic Excellence Award (2011) from Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University