Ziyun Zhai is a Research Assistant in the Marshall-Colon Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she focuses on building and improving models of soybean photosynthesis. Her research involves collecting quantitative data on transcriptome and photosynthesis-related protein levels to help parameterize these models, contributing to the overall goal of enhancing crop productivity. Ziyun holds a bachelor's degree in natural resources and environmental science and a master's degree in plant biology, both from the Illinois.