I completed my undergraduate degree in Biotechnology at Sichuan University (Sichuan, China) in 2008, and came to the Sinclair lab from China in January 2009. My work is focusing on the gene expression and physiology of Dosophila melanogaster after multiple cold exposures. When exposed to repeated low temperatures, Drosophila melanogaster females showed an increase in survival, but a reduction in fecundity. I aim to identify some of the molecular mechanisms that may underlie this phenomenon by measuring changes on the gene expression level. I used microarray approach to compare the differences of gene expression among multiple cold treatment and single cold treatments on D. melanogaster, and found several candidate genes repairing cold damage and involved in reproduction. I then used real time PCR to validate these genes. I’m also interested in springtails (Collembola). We collected snow fleas from the field during the winter, and measured their supercooling points. We may use a number of species to do more molecular work in the future.