Xiaoyun Neo is a second-year Master’s student in Geography & Environment at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and a Graduate Degree Fellow with the East-West Centre. Her research focuses on the political ecology of ecotourism, biodiversity conservation, and human-nature interactions in Southeast Asia. Driven by a deep concern for people and the planet, she has worked and volunteered with place-based initiatives in regenerative farming, community building, and wildlife and biodiversity education. She is a published author, having contributed to Singapore's first environmental nonfiction anthology Eating Chilli Crab in the Anthropocene (2020), and produced original, peer-reviewed research on environmental education in history textbooks (2021). Guiding and educating for five years gifted her deep familiarity with a diverse array of local Singaporean and Southeast Asian regional ecosystems, from secondary forests and mangroves to intertidal zones and freshwater streams, which motivates her to continue curating programs and experiences to foster and cultivate human reconnection with nature and the environment.