Yang was born and raised in Harbin, China. She completed her Ph.D. in Plant Nutrition at China Agricultural University (CAU), Beijing, China, and joined the Root-Soil-Microbial Interactions group as a postdoctoral fellow in August 2019.

During her Ph.D. study, she was focusing on the molecular mechanisms of Nitrogen uptake. Her research revealed the role of maize ammonium transporters in ammonium uptake and transport and contributed an in-depth understanding of nitrogen homeostasis in plants. Now she is working on the improvement of macro element uptake and yield potential by understanding the molecular mechanisms that control the plant root system architecture (RSA).

Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with books, baking and doing yoga.