MEET OUR GRADUATES: Yang Finds Success on the Field and in the Lab

Her name has appeared on the Dean’s List four times. She’s been named an NCAA-Division III All-American Track and Field athlete three times. And she’s spending countless hours in a biology lab working on research that could one day change lives. 

All of these are average accomplishments to 22-year-old RIC senior and biology major Chelsea Yang.

“I’m always pushing myself to be better,” Yang says. “I have high standards that I’m sticking to. I got that trait from my mom, who is very driven. And that’s made me driven as well.”

Yang, who grew up in Warwick, says it took a while before she decided to pursue biology. 
 
“I was in the spring semester of my sophomore year, the point where RIC tells students to select a major,” she recalls. “I was still undecided and happy in my undecidedness. So, I thought back to high school and asked myself, ‘What classes did I excel in?’ I always thought science was cool.”

She started doing research by coincidence. After completing a physiology course in 2021 taught by RIC Associate Professor of Biology Anabela Maia, Yang received an unexpected email.

“It was Professor Maia telling me that I did really well in physiology and wanting to know if I was interested in an opening she had in her lab for the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program,” Yang says. “While I didn’t know what to expect, I said, 'Yes, why not?’ it’s a summer job and it would be great to get paid to do research.”

The research project titled “Motor Control of the Spiny Dorsal Fin in Swimming Bluegill” examined how fish maintain stability when disturbed. Over the span of 10 weeks, the fish were studied under a normal state as well as altered states of nervous feedback. 

“With information from this study, we can gain insight to help with Parkinson’s Disease, where people lose their motor skills, or enhancing movement for those who use prosthetics,” Yang says. With Maia’s assistance, Yang is producing a manuscript about the research.

Yang’s scientific abilities are brimming with promise, according to Maia. 

“Despite the fact that she had limited hands-on research experience, she was eager to learn and performed at the highest of levels,” Maia says. “Chelsea attacked research like I believe she attacks athletics, with a tremendous amount of work and great energy. As someone who has been teaching and doing research in the university setting for 14 years, I can confidently say that Chelsea is extremely motivated and ready to continue to do research and excel as a biologist.”

Aside from a science lab, Yang is just as comfortable on a track field, perhaps even more so. Her journey began as a freshman in Pilgrim High School, where Yang was searching for something to do with her time.

“I started doing theater for no good reason because I couldn’t sing, dance or act,” she says. “My brother said, ‘No, no, no, you need to do track,’ because he did track. He threw the javelin, hammer and discus. I picked up the hammer and haven’t put it down since. It’s a bit of a stress reliever, and from a technical aspect it tightens your core so you’re better on your deliveries when you’re throwing it.”

By the end of her senior year at Pilgrim, Yang was ranked second in the state in weight throw, which is the indoor equivalent of hammer. When she arrived at RIC, her track life became more intense. Practices consumed about 20 hours during the week and Saturdays were reserved for day-long track meets.

“It was tough trying to figure out time management but all student/athletes face that challenge and find a way to make it work,” Yang says.

In her senior year, Yang came in second place in the nationals, which she says was disappointing. She wasn’t able to compete in the nationals during her junior year because the event was canceled due to COVID concerns.

“Sixteen hours before the competition was set to begin, I was sitting in my hotel room in Winston-Salem, North Carolina watching Netflix when the coach called to say the competition had been canceled,” she recalls. “I didn’t understand because we were all there and exposed to each other. I was so heartbroken, to say the least, because I was competing pretty well at that time, and the chance to win it all was yanked away from me.”

Yang was named the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches (USTFCCCA) Mideast Women’s Field Athlete of the Year and earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the weight throw. And for the second time in her collegiate career, she was selected as the Little East Women’s Field Athlete of the Year. 

This spring, during her swan song as a senior she has been named Little East Women’s Athlete of the Week three consecutive times and honored as the 2022 recipient of RIC’s Helen M. Murphy Award, which recognizes not only athletic prowess but campus and community involvement.

Yang says she’ll miss competing because track and field has become part of her identity.
“I’m thinking of picking up a gig coaching on the high school level so I can still stay in the sport,” she says.

As for her career, she isn’t necessarily seeking to become a doctor but not ruling it out, either.

“I am debating pursuing a doctoral degree a few years from now,” she says. “At this point, I want to do more research so I can feel more technically comfortable in a field of biology before I commit to spending six or eight years trying to obtain a doctoral degree. I love biomechanics and physiology and would like to find a lab in Rhode Island or Massachusetts where that’s the focus.”

While she prepares to leave RIC, Yang says she’s appreciative of the college’s unique charm. 

“The biggest lesson that RIC has taught me is that no matter where you are, where you start from, you can still succeed and be great,” she says. “I’ve gotten not only quality coaching but a quality education that I feel would rival any other institution.”