I explore the ecology of plant-insect interactions with methodologies of chemical analysis, behavioral bioassays and molecular biology. Recent research projects focused on, but were not limited to a local heteropteran species, beanbug (Riptortus pedestris) and the interactions with its major host plant, soybean (Glycine max). I am currently a Ph.D. student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), but actively looking to expand my research boundaries. Ongoing projects include 1) sexual communication in the bean bug, especially a possible role of cuticular compounds, 2) dismantling attractive and repulsive behavior of the bean bug using deep-learning based computer vision, 3) validation of attraction cue and repellent in soybean fields as an application of integrated pest management (IPM).
I study plant-insect interactions because of an innate love of nature in me. Even as a city boy growing up in the most sprawling city of Seoul, I am remembered as a boy looking for ant colonies and following the workers. My mom still talks about the days when I used to come home with pockets full of pill bugs, calling them ‘friends’. Starting off an academic career as a community and landscape ecologist, now I am looking into more details: chemical and behavioral interactions among groups of organisms. My scientific journey has been a continuous expansion and diversification. From Korea to the US, from the US to Australia, and back to Korea, my academic experiences on three continents not only cultivated a rational mind but broadened my scope beyond scientific boundaries.
Among ecology courses I took at Australian National University, assisting a Ph.D. student Ding Li Yong (currently working at the Birdlife International in Singapore) in a small laboratory, sorting pitfall-trapped beetle samples gave me a picture of myself being an ecologist. Although he was already a professional ornithologist and a biodiversity conservationist at that time, he still was putting efforts to expand his academic scope to fulfill his academic vision. Inspired by his passion, my graduate study began with studies on the community ecology of spiders: what biotic and abiotic factors affect their community composition. What caught my interest was specific capability of Thomisidae in locating flowers for ambush-hunting. Since the grant budget did not allow me at that time, I designed Y-tube experiments with plastic apparatus bought at my private expense. Among six spider families tested, Thomisidae spiders were found to be specifically good at locating plants. My first behavioral bioassay later led me to a meeting with professor Sang-Gyu Kim at the conference of the Ecological Society of Korea, who invited me to the world of chemical ecology as a Ph.D. student.
As a ‘newcomer’ to multiple communities through my journey, I feel blessed to have great people who made an effort to help me get assimilated into these societies. I believe a true synergy of our society, in and outside academia, comes from having diversity, equity, and inclusion. Based on this belief I am interested and highly motivated in fostering people from all backgrounds to pursue their academic careers, especially to enhance opportunities for the underrepresented.
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