Graduate Student Directory

Summary of Expertise

I study human-animal relations in modern Chinese history, specifically focusing on the history of the People’s Republic of China. I am currently working on the bureaucratic management of forestry, wildlife conservation, and center-periphery relations in Northeast China from 1949 to present, viewing the forest as a site of complicated relationships between the central government, the local government, local ethnic minorities, and the indigenous environment. 

Language: Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean (native language) 

Research Interests

• Modern Chinese History 
• Environmental History 
• History of Science 
• History of Borderlands 

Biography, Education and Training

Service 

ASEH Committee On Diversity and Equity (CODIE) (2019-present) 

UAW UC International Students Committee (2019-present) 

Honors, Awards and Grants

 Outside Grants 

• ASEH Environmental History Fellow (2022) 
• Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (2021-2022) 
• Walter S. Rosenberry Grant (2021-2022)
• UCHRI Dissertation Support (2021) 
• UCHRI Multicampus Graduate Student Working Groups (2021-2022)
• ASEH Equity Graduate Student Fellowship (2019)
• ASEH Hal Rothman Dissertation Research Fellowship (2019) 
• D. Kim Foundation for the History of Science and Technology in East Asia Travel/Research Grant (2019)
• Henry Luce Foundation/ACLS Program in China Studies Predissertation-Summer Travel Grant (2017) 
• Association for Asian Studies China and Inner Asia Council (CIAC) Small Grant (2017) 

UCSC Grants

• Graduate Division Dissertation Grant (2021-2022) 
• Thom Gentle Research Award in Environmental History (2021) 
• UCSC History Department TA Sabbatical Fellowship (2020-2021)
• UCSC The Humanities Institute Summer Dissertation Fellowship (2020)
• UCSC GradSlam Finalists (2020)
• UCSC The Humanities Institute Summer Research Fellowship (2019)
• UCSC History Department Dissertation Travel Grant (2018)
• UCSC History Department Pre-dissertation Travel Grant (2015, 2016) 
• UCSC Regent’s Fellowship (2013 - 2014) 

Pre-UCSC Grants

• Grade Excellence Award (Magna Cum Laude) Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, Korea (2012)
• Chinese Bureau of Education Scholarship. Chinese Bureau of Education (2007 - 2008) 

Selected Publications

• H-Net Book Review: E. Elena Songster, Panda Nation: The Construction and Conservation of China’s Modern Icon (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2018). Published on May 11, 2021. 
• Article on Environmental History Now: BENDING THE RULES: FOREST HISTORY IN NORTHEAST CHINA (November 2019) (It was introduced by Environmental historian Dr. Jessica DeWitt as one of the worth reading online articles of the month #EnvHist Worth Reading: November 2019 ) 

Selected Presentations

Presentations 

•  “Rethinking Mao China’s Environmental Policies: Forestry Management, Wildlife Conservation, and Center-Periphery Relations in Northeast China, 1949 – 1965” Poster Presentation, American Society for Environmental History (Apr 13, 2019) at Columbus, Ohio.  
• “Rethinking Mao-era Environmental Consciousness: Pollution, Forest Protection, and Wildlife Conservation, 1949 – 1965” International Conference on Ecocriticism and Environmental Studies (Oct 10, 2018) at University of London
• “Seeing the Forest Like a State: Forest Management, Wildlife Conservation, and Center-Periphery Relations in Northeast China, 1949 – 1965” Biodiversity and Its Histories (Apr 25, 2017), at Columbia University
• “Seeing the Forest Like a State: Forest Management, Wildlife Conservation, and Center-Periphery Relations in Northeast China, 1949 – 1965” Friday Forum (Feb 10, 2017), at UCSC
• “Precious Animals: State-Wildlife Relations in the People’s Republic of China, 1949 – 1965” (Apr, 29, 2016) 12th Graduate Students Symposium at UCSC

Invited Lectures

• “Late 18th Century Choson Korea” Guest lecture: (Dec, 03, 2015) at UCSC 
• “Pests, Famine, and Giant Pandas” Guest Lecture: (Feb, 12, 2016) at UCSC

Teaching Interests

• Modern East Asia 
• World History 
• Environmental History