Yemima Duchin Rapp is a PhD student researching microbial ecology under the supervision of Dr. Einat Segev in the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences at the Weizmann Institute. She has a BSc in Plant Science from the Hebrew University and an MSc in Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands from Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

In her PhD work, Yemima studies microbial mechanisms underlying horizontal gene transfer in the marine environment, using ecological relevant bacterial strains. She aims to use the knowledge gained from her research to explore how anthropogenic factors affect genetic transfer between bacteria and influence inter-species interactions. Characterizing and understanding HGT in the ocean will be fundamental in elucidating how human activities impact and shape the ocean microbial environment.