Department: Princeton School of Public and International Affairs Faculty Adviser: Professor Michael Oppenheimer, Professor Eric Tate Year of Study: G3 Undergraduate School: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Undergraduate Major: Geography and Resource Management
Hi! I'm Natalie Chung, a PhD candidate in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy at Princeton. I'm originally from Hong Kong, and I'd describe myself as insatiably curious. I love following questions across disciplinary boundaries, even when that means feeling like being at the periphery in every room. As an undergraduate, I conducted independent research on energy policy at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. For my final year thesis, I wrote a dissertation on the factors that determine how resilient energy grids are under super-typhoons driven by climate change. I worked with my advisor Prof Yuan Xu to turn that into a peer-reviewed journal article, and it taught me that good research often starts with a local problem and ends with lessons that travel beyond. What I love most about Princeton is interdisciplinarity. As graduate students, we have infinite freedom to explore interests across different fields and to build connections between them. That inspired me to establish the Princeton AI for Climate Network, a student organization that brings together climate scientists and computer science folks to explore how we can leverage AI to improve climate action. It's been one of the most rewarding parts of my time here, and it grew directly out of that interdisciplinary spirit. Outside of research, I'm a Chinese painter and a clarinetist. I played in the school band in high school and the Hertford College Orchestra during my master's at Oxford. I'm excited to share that side of my life with my undergraduate mentee. We can organize events to paint and play music together.
When I was 18, I co-founded V'air Sustainability Education, a social enterprise promoting nature-based immersive educational experiences. We won the first prize at the COP21 Tertiary Schools Challenge organized by the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong. V air began as a small platform showcasing Hong Kong's country parks and rural trails as an alternative to weekend getaways, and we expanded into an environmental education organisation running eco-tours and outreach programmes, now reaching over 2.5 million people. The lesson I still carry into my PhD, that people don't protect what they don t love. That work led to two published books on hiking and sustainable local tourism Low-Carbon Tours ( , 2017), covering 39 routes with low-carbon tips and ecological knowledge, and Roaming the Mountains: Yama Girls' Hiking Guide (2020), co-authored with Daisy Lok To Yeung to encourage women and girls into nature. The second was finished in my Oxford bedroom at 2am, with my co-author cheering me on every time I wanted to give up. In 2023, I was the only Hong Kong representative on Dr. Sylvia Earle's Antarctic Climate Expedition. We arrived with 23 draft ocean-climate resolutions and left with 8, because focus was the only way anyone would listen. I sat on the plastic working group, where we pushed the conversation from ocean plastic to the full circular economy, and joined the microplastic team that found traces in all ten surface water samples we collected from a trawl in the Southern Ocean. The resolutions covered a ban on deep-sea mining, the 30 by 30 marine protection target, protecting kelp forests, banning krill fishing, curbing microplastics, and centring youth and indigenous voices. We also wrote letters to our future selves, to be opened in 2050 and 2099. Sylvia's line has stayed with me since, that we can transform tipping points into turning points of hope and positive action.
My PhD focuses on climate change adaptation policy. My research investigates "nature-based solutions , which involves using natural ecosystems, like wetlands, to protect cities from extreme weather events. My work explores the case of Hong Kong's Northern Metropolis, a large-scale new tech development built on ecologically sensitive land. It s important because while these nature-based ideas are globally popular, we don t know how they translate into local rules, or whose voices influence the final decisions. The cool part is seeing traditional fishponds reimagined as vital flood defenses. I interview government officials and consultants, survey local fishermen, and read policy documents to understand who holds the power to shape these landscapes, seeking to ensure equitable outcomes for local communities.
Interested in participating in Summer 2027 ReMatch+ program.
