Nature’s fluid tricks, measured.

I study how insects, birds and plants handle water — and turn what I find into bio-inspired materials and devices.

In motion

Fluid ejection from the spotted lanternfly.

High-speed footage of how a spotted lanternfly launches its waste droplets.

Research

How spotted lanternflies and sharpshooters launch waste droplets, captured with high-speed and synchrotron X-ray imaging.

Coiling feather barbules that soak up and carry water across the desert, and the programmable keratin coils they inspire.

Fog collectors and water-transport surfaces inspired by Tillandsia and cactus.

A developmental switch from capillary rectification to elastic catapult enables honeydew ejection in the spotted lanternfly PNAS Nexus, in press

A field biology guide for the curious physicist Newton, 2025

Enhanced fog collection of hydrogel-coated wires inspired by water film-trapping characteristics of Tillandsia Chemical Engineering Journal, 2023

Domino-like water transport on Tillandsia through flexible trichome wings New Phytologist, 2021

Science outreach fuels creativity and lets scientists give back to their communities directly.

Jungle Biomechanics Lab Outreach educator, Amazon rainforest, Peru · 2023

President, Women in GTKSA Georgia Tech Korean Society Association

Zoo Biomechanics Day Animals in Motion, Atlanta · 2026