Biological and Life Sciences – Keana Tang
Keana Tang
University of Kansas
“Uncovering the Early Diversification of Core Eudicots in Western North America: Structurally Preserved Fruits from Late Cretaceous Deposits of Sucia Island”
Keana Tang received her bachelor’s in Organismal Biology at California State University, Long Beach, in 2018. She earned her master’s in ecology and evolutionary biology in 2021 at the University of Kansas, where she is currently pursuing her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Keana’s thesis was focused on characterizing extinct plant diversity from the Cretaceous Period (145-66 million years ago), which was a crucial time for the early evolution of flowering plants. Two new extinct species were described based on three-dimensionally preserved fruits recovered from the western coast of North America. Cretaceous floras from the western coast of North America are relatively undersampled compared to other regions across the continent. The continued recovery and documentation of new fossils from the Cretaceous will play a crucial role in understanding the early diversification of flowering plants.
Biological and Life Sciences Honorable Mention: Isaac Lennox, Michigan Technological University, “Exercise is Medicine® On Campus: A National Analysis and Assessment of Community Impact”