Keana K. Tang

Keana Tang
  • Doctoral Candidate
  • NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Contact Info

EEB - Haworth Hall

Biography —

Faculty Mentor: Brian Atkinson and Kelly Matsunaga

Research interests: Evolutionary and biogeographic history of flowering plants

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Education —

B.S. in Organismal Biology, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
M.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 2021, Lawrence, KS

Selected Publications —

  • Tang, K.K., S.Y. Smith, and B.A. Atkinson. 2023. Winged fruits of Friisifructus aligeri gen. et sp. nov. from the Late Cretaceous of western North America. IJPS 184(4): 271-281.
  • Tang, K.K., S.Y. Smith, and B.A. Atkinson. 2022. Extending beyond Gondwana: Cretaceous Cunoniaceae from western North America. New Phytologist 234: 704-718.

 

Selected Presentations —

  • Tang K., Matsunaga K.S., Atkinson B.A. New floral diversity of Lauraceae in the Late Cretaceous. July 24, 2023, Botany 2023, Boise, Idaho, USA.
  • Tang K., Matsunaga K.S., Atkinson B.A. Crown group Lauraceae in the Late Cretaceous: new evidence from fossil flowers. July 25, 2022, Botany 2022, Anchorage, Alaska, USA.
  • Tang K., Atkinson B.A., Matsunaga K.S. Floral diversity of Lauraceae from the Late Cretaceous of western North America. March 5, 2022, Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference, Online.
  • Tang K., Smith S.Y., Atkinson B.A. A structurally preserved fin-winged fruit from the Late Cretaceous of western North America. July 19, 2021, Botany 2021, Online.
  • Tang K., Smith S.Y., Atkinson B.A. Fruit of Esgueiria from the Late Cretaceous of western North America. June 5, 2021, Midcontinent Paleobotanical Colloquium 2021, Online.
  • Tang K., Late Cretaceous Flowering Plants from the western coast of North America and their evolutionary implications. Nov. 10, 2020, University of Kansas Bio3 Seminar, Online.
  • Tang K., Smith S.Y., and Atkinson B.A. Cunoniaceae from the Late Cretaceous of North America and its paleobiogeographic implications. July 27,2020, Botany 2020, Online.

 

Grants & Other Funded Activity —

  • Maynard Moseley Award, Botanical Society of America, 2022
  • Bill Dahl Graduate Student Research Award, Botanical Society of America, 2022
  • R.C. Lewontin Early Award, Society for the Study of Evolution, 2022
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2021-present
  • Isabel Cookson Award, Botanical Society of America, 2020
  • N. Gary Lane Student Research Award Recipient, Paleontological Society, 2020
  • Tang, K. PLANTS Grant, Undergraduate Travel Awards: Enhancing Diversity at the Botanical Society of America Conferences. BSA, NSF. 07/21/2018 – 07/25/2018. Funded.