Brief Biography

My family moved from South Korea to the United States when I was a young girl. The integration of cultures that came along with this move shaped my perspectives on art, nature, and people. In college, I designed my own course of study with training in studio arts, social sciences, and natural sciences. Immediately following my undergraduate studies, I pursued my interest in botany by working at the Arnold Arboretum and the National Arboretum, cultural institutions with research objectives. I later used my botanical knowledge with my art training at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History to coordinate and create models of plants and animals for new exhibitions.

In May 2005, I earned a Master’s of Environmental Management, focusing on Coastal issues from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. During my time at the University, I expanded my skills as a scientist and communicator. In addition to learning analytical tools such as Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) and linear regression, I worked in the field, capturing and tagging blue crabs with a local fisherman. Additionally, off the North Carolina coast, I participated in necropsies at a massive whale stranding and a scientific collection trip of deep-sea corals.

Through Duke, I also worked on several communications projects. I chronicled the state of local/ organic farming in North Carolina in a documentary film. With a team I created a promotional video used to successfully argue for the preservation and expansion of the Key West Botanical Garden. On the local level, I taught science to middle school students through a National Science Foundation fellowship. On the opposite coast, I developed a global climate change project with Scripps Institute of Oceanography. All of these projects, of different scales and magnitude reiterate my inexhaustible enthusiasm for communicating science and conservation issues.

I'm living once again in New York City, where I lead a project to promote the knowledge and enjoyment of the local marine environment, using fishing as a vehicle for outreach. The program, I Fish NY, has offered me unique opportunities for research, environmental eduction and the application of my communication skills.

When not working on the water I'm often found surfing at one of the nearby beaches.