Dr. Yano is currently a Senior Scientist at the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She is also a PI of the Liquid Sunlight Alliance at Berkeley and leads its Photodynamics Team. Her research areas include the water oxidation in natural photosynthesis and artificial photosynthesis, catalytic reactions in metalloenzymes, application of synchrotron X-ray radiation and X-ray free electron laser techniques to biological and inorganic systems. She is a recipient of the Robin Hill Award by the International Society for Photosynthesis Research. She has organized several workshops and served as committee members in the field of X-ray sciences and photosynthetic systems.