Yi earned her Ph.D. from McGill University under Dr. Bruce Arndtsen, where she developed palladium-catalyzed carbonylation reaction for the formation of acyl electrophiles driven by visible light. Prior to that, she completed an M.Sc. at Memorial University of Newfoundland with Dr. Christopher Kozak, studying metal complexes for biodegradable polymer synthesis, and obtained her B.Sc. in Chemistry from Xiangtan University.​  After her Ph.D., Yi pursued postdoctoral research at Cornell University and Princeton University with Dr. Todd Hyster, where she explored photochemistry with flavin-dependent enzymes to unlock Csp³–Csp³ cross-coupling reactions.

​    Outside of the lab, she enjoy hiking, running, and spending time with her cat.