The SSC Community Connections initiative aims to foster connections across the Statistical Society of Canada (SSC) by highlighting individual members of our community. This initiative aligns with one of the SSC’s strategic priorities: promoting a sense of community in the statistical sciences and related fields. Selected individuals will be featured in articles published in SSC Liaison.
In this article, we are pleased to spotlight Dr. Yunhong Lyu, an assistant professor of statistics at Trent University. Before joining Trent University, Yunhong earned her PhD in statistics from the University of Windsor and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Université de Montréal. Yunhong’s research interests include statistical inference, financial modelling, applied probability, and stochastic processes.
Yunhong’s involvement with the SSC began at the virtual annual meeting in 2021, where she presented her PhD research. For Yunhong, this experience underscored the supportive and collaborative nature of the SSC community, which motivated her to stay engaged within the SSC until now. Since then, she has received presentation awards at both the Canadian Statistics Student Conference and the 2023 SSC Annual Meeting in Ottawa.
As an early career academic, the highlights of Yunhong’s job include the opportunities to learn, collaborate, and share ideas within the academic community through conferences. These experiences are particularly useful for gaining fresh perspectives and new ideas for future research. One of the most impactful pieces of professional advice Yunhong has received came from her PhD advisor, Dr. Sévérien Nkurunziza: "Be careful, be confident, and be rigorous." These guiding principles have shaped her approach to research, teaching, collaboration, and publishing, including her thesis work that appears in prestigious journals such as the Annals of Applied Probability.
To junior statisticians, Yunhong offers thoughtful advice: stay curious, be patient with your progress, and build a strong support network. “Research can be challenging and, at times, slow—so it's important to celebrate small milestones and not be afraid to ask questions, seek feedback, and learn from both successes and setbacks,” she says. Yunhong also encourages early career researchers to get involved with the SSC to establish connections with peers and mentors.
We sincerely thank Yunhong for sharing her insights and for participating in our SSC Community Connections initiative.
Would you like to be featured in a future SSC Liaison article, or do you know an SSC member we should spotlight? If so, please submit a nomination via our Google form. You must log in to mySSC to submit a nomination.