Class of 2017

Kathy Li has a cozy apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. She instructs a popular yoga class at YO BK multiple times a week, and through yoga, she has met a nice community of friends.

Edrei Chua trekked to Everest Base Camp. He hiked with a friend from his high school days in Singapore. They went to Nepal in December, when the trails were colder and less crowded. The temperature was below freezing at night, so they mostly huddled for warmth after hiking during the day.

Dave Klinges is in his fifth year of a climate change ecology Ph.D. program at the University of Florida. He is studying the varying impact of climate change on microclimates, such as rainforests or urban cities.

His research brought him to Madagascar, where he studied the impact of climate change on Malagasy frogs. He studied how different frogs reacted to climate change and compared the temperature changes on the rainforest floor vs. the canopy.

Dave enjoyed his experiences in Madagascar. He was impressed by the dramatic landscapes, from rainforests to canyonlands, in close proximity to each other. One night while climbing a tree, he received a venomous scorpion bite that was then diagnosed and treated by a local shaman. He brought spikeball sets and the local kids became very skilled. His most fulfilling experience in Madagascar was a workshop to teach Excel and basic R programming to employees of Madagascar National Parks.

Dave worked closely with Fiona Price ’23 on research exploring local community-led biodiversity monitoring in Madagascar. They found that when conducting biodiversity monitoring, including diverse local community members—in particular, women—improves monitoring success.

Dave plans to move to New Haven, Connecticut, for a postdoc at Yale starting in August. He welcomes anyone in the area to reach out and catch up. Already he knows Mariana Almeida and Andrew Jeon, who tied the knot this past September, are in the area. Mariana is in her final year of medical school at Yale. Dave has also been distance running and plans to run a marathon soon.

I caught up with Matthew Jin and his wife, Cynthia, at her parents’ home in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

I also played a soccer match against Joseph Mears ’18 in an Ann Arbor, Michigan, soccer league. Joseph scored an impressive back heel flick goal. Joseph is completing an M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan.

—Eric Chen, 24036 Wintergreen Circle, Novi, MI 48374; echen027@gmail.com