About “Guijun Yan”

I grew up in one of the most remote country areas in Mainland China in the 1960s. After the Cultural Revolution, I had a chance to take the first entrance examination to the Universities, and I was one of the 200,000 lucky ones out of the 10,000,000 candidates. I started my undergraduate study at the age of 21, majored in agriculture with the aim of improving the living of the billions of peasants (farmers) in rural China.I completed my undergraduate study in Horticulture in early 1982 and my MSc in Horticulture in 1984. I started my interest in genetics during my MSc study and my thesis was on cytogenetics and taxonomy of Chinese date (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.).After my graduation, the University where I studied (Hebei Agricultural University) immediately employed me as a Lecturer to teach pomology and to do research on the domestication and breeding of Chinese date. I was also interested in the genetics and breeding of walnuts, apples and other vegetatively propagated perennials. From early 1992 to mid 1996, I worked and studied for my PhD between HortResearch (formerly DSIR) and The University of Auckland in New Zealand. During those five years, my research was concentrated on kiwifruit breeding and genetics. My PhD supervisors were Associate Professor Brian Murray, Dr. Ross Ferguson and Dr. Mark McNeilage. My PhD research on the cytogenetic and molecular studies of kiwifruit genomes has led to six papers , in international prestigious journals.As soon as I finished writing up my thesis, I was offered an academic position at the University of Western Australia, and two days after capping on 9th September, 1996, I commenced my present work at the University of Western Australia.