About me

Scuba Endeavors
Born and raise on the small tropical island of Singapore, I have always been intrigued by nature and wildlife, particularly the marine world that surrounds us all. I eagerly pursued my scuba certification in Phuket, Thailand and completed my Open Water, Advanced Open Water and Deep specialty over the summer of 2019. Since then, I've gone on to rack up over 200 dives, earning my NAUI Technical Decompression Diver and my GUE Cave Diver 1 certifications.Education & Research Interests
I moved to North Carolina in 2019 to begin my undergraduate career at UNC Chapel Hill. Aligning with my interest in marine biology, I joined the Marchetti lab in my first year and started a research project examining how different environmental factors determine phytoplankton populations in the Galápagos Islands. I received a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) for my research and this project eventually became my Masters thesis.On top of that, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to design and carry out my very own project. In Fall 2021, I attended the Morehead City Field Site program where I began work on my honors thesis. I am working closely with Dr Nathan Hall at UNC’s Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) to find out if different artificial reef materials affect the prevalence of a toxic dinoflagellate, Gambierdiscus spp. This project was generously funded by The Explorers Club, WDHOF and Honors Carolina. It has also been published in Frontiers in Marine SciencesCurrently, I am working in the Institute of Global Health & Infectious Diseases under the UNC School of Medicine. My work focuses on employing the latest bioinformatics and data analysis tools to investigate the acquisition of ARGs and antibiotic resistance within the gut microbiome.Goals & Research Statement
Through my education and experiences, I've gained a solid understanding of microbial ecology and a robust combination of field, laboratory and computational skills. My aim is to synergize my scuba skills with my research skills to study intricate marine ecosystems to help guide conservation efforts and preserve the beautiful yet delicate habitats within our oceans. I am a passionate advocate for reproducible research and open science, thus strive to implement best practices in my own work.

Contact me

If you have questions about my work or would like to collaborate on a project, feel free to email me. You can find links to my Github and LinkedIn pages at the bottom of this site.I'm actively seeking out opportunities to work with young scientists (K-12 through undergraduate) to foster curiosity and a passion for science. If you know of any platforms or organizations working towards this goal, please send them my way! Any and everything is greatly appreciated!