Lucy Yang – NSF Recipient

Lucy Yang is a UCI Regent’s Scholar and a chemistry and biological sciences double major. She is a 2021 Goldwater Scholar and conducts undergraduate research in Professor Andrej Lupták’s lab, where her work focuses on origins of life chemistry—in particular, she has studied the chemical kinetics of polymerase ribozymes as well as the ability to synthesize RNA with lower energy substrates. Lucy is currently President of the Chemistry Club, the host and producer of The Chemistea Podcast, and the founder of The Kawaii Chemist, where she combines her love of art and cartoons with her other passions in science and science communication. Lucy plans to attend graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in chemical biology and hopes to someday become a research professor.