Huang Ryan
﷯Scientist. Photographer. Communicator. Currently I'm a Ph.D. student at Duke University studying conservation biology, specifically population dynamics and extinction risks of tropical birds. When I'm not working on my research, I spend my time pursuing my passion for photography. While I started simply taking photos of wildlife in the field and during my travels, I have more recently been focusing on expanding my abilities as a portrait photographer. In addition to all of that, I am also a co-founder of TerraCommuncations LLC, a business formed to promote science communication. At TerraComm, we create figures, infographics, websites, videos, and more for scientists to disseminate their research through interesting and appealing visuals. As I develop both my scientific and artistic skills, I realize that the two are not necessarily separate, and that we can use art to communicate complex ideas in novel ways to new audiences. I graduated summa cum laude from Emory University in 2011 with a B.S. in Biology. During this time, I worked as a research assistant for a variety of labs from those studying West Nile Virus to looking at social behavior among black capuchins. I published my honors thesis on surveying chytrid fungus among the amphibian community of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge regions of Georgia. Since then, I have traveled the world, living in the rainforests of Madagascar, selling beer and liquor on a tourist island, and working in a yoga studio (not all at once!) I'm always looking for new experiences and trying to improve my skills as a scientist and an artist.