Yael Wagner was previously a PhD student at Dr. Tamir Klein’s lab, also known as the Weizmann Tree Lab. She has a BSc in Plant Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and did her MSc in Plant and Environmental Sciences under the joint supervision of Dr. Tamir Klein at the Weizmann Institute and Prof. José Grünzweig at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.    

In her PhD work, Yael studied drought stress in native Mediterranean trees, focusing on drought-induced damage to the tree’s hydraulic system and its effect on tree performance. She has used advanced imaging techniques to detect the build-up of damage during drought and link it to specific environmental conditions, observing the legacy effect it exerts on long-term, post-drought recovery. She worked on pinpointing the exact time of drought induced mortality in trees, and quantifying the level of damage it takes to kill them.    

Yael believes strongly in the responsibility of scientists in advancing public outreach and making science accessible. She is involved with several programs at the Davidson Institute, the educational arm of Weizmann, including working with advanced high school students and contributing to the Davidson website.