After he earned his PhD degree in Botany from Peking University in 2003, Yun-Kuan immediately joined in the Lancaster Environment Centre for his post-doc training, working on guard cell-based signal transduction with Professor Alistair Hetherington. In September 2006, Yun-Kuan moved to University of Bristol and continued with his study on stomatal function, before he came back to China and set up a research group at Wuhan University in October 2010. His interest is mainly concentrated on the molecular basis of stomatal morphogenesis and movements, with a goal to define and manipulate key genes responsible for important agricultural traits such as crop yield and stress tolerance and ultimately contribute to food security and the environment.