Nature enthusiast

The thing which I am most passionate about is nature. Especially, observing them and taking photographs and looking into their behaviors. My relation with nature started in a young age, which I got interested in fish (according to my parents, even before I could properly speak).

My parents bought me a fish tank when I was 6 years old, and I started to spend most of my free time in observing their behavior. I could figure out the hierarchy of the fish inside the tank and compare the behavioral characteristics of each species (swimming style, feeding strategy etc.). After few years, when I became 9^th grade, I had over 10 fish tanks and 250 fish in it. 

Once, our family went to Jeju island I wanted to see fish swim in the wild. Luckily my mother was able to snorkel, so I learned how to snorkel and swam around, looking for fish. It was really fun because I could look into their behavior, which is completely different from those images from the books. Although I already knew the names of most of the fish which are in Jeju island, seeing them in real life inspired me to ‘dive deeper’ into world of nature.

                                      Underwater photo which I took back in 2015 in Austrailia

So I decided to learn SCUBA diving. After months of education and diving practice in the ocean, I achieved ‘advanced SCUBA diver’ certificate, which meant I was approved to dive in various part of the ocean and it meant to me as precious opportunity.

But back in my hometown there is no accessible part of water to observe fish. Instead it was possible to hear various songs of birds in most case. In 9^th grade fall, I decided to look for birds when I have free time. Right after winter vacation started, I borrowed my mother’s camera and went out to photograph the birds, which I can later identify by field guide books. After various experiences with ‘scaring’ the birds or getting blurry photos, at the end of winter vacation I had learned how to photograph birds precisely and recognized over 20 species with understanding of their behavior. Bird photographing became my winter hobby after that, taking me to places such as Korean Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) to observe birds during 10^th grade winter.

                                              Azure-winged magpie taken back in 2017.

I am currently attaining a boarding high school in Hoengsung, which is rural compared to my hometown in Gwacheon(near Seoul). Because of the local environment, there is a huge amount of insect population within school area. Before, in elementary/middle school, I only had vague interest in insects, but after seeing diverse fauna of insect in our school, I started to photograph/identify/make list of species of insect living in our campus in every time I could invest. About 1 and a half year had passed since I started to do so, I documented almost 1,080 species of insect living in our school. Also, I had opportunity to learn some insect specimen at SNU thanks to our headmaster, and I collected about 450 specimen of insect. Recently I am interested in small leafhoppers and moth fauna, which is possible to collect via light trap. 

Light trap for nocturnal insect.

                                                  Miltochrista pulchera moth taken in KMLA

In every part of my life, I tried to expand my knowledge of nature as possible. I had a chance to use my academic knowledge myself, such as writing papers and going to competitions, but I decided to change the my direction. During summer vacation, I participated in GLPS, which is a school camp for elementary & middle school kids. There, I had great sense of achievement when I taught the kids about nature, and provoked interest about various organisms. That’s when I decided to use my knowledge in teaching other people about nature. I now consider becoming a ecologist or related researcher, and later teach many people about nature and want to share my enthusiasm with them.