Hi, I'm Lauren Man, I'm a Geography Msc student at the University of Victoria, and I map kelp forests.
CV / Resume/ ResearchGate / LinkedIn
Born and raised in Hong Kong (香港), I recently graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (Tongva lands), where I majored in Marine Biology and minored in Environmental Systems & Society. I currently reside in Victoria, BC (Lək̓ʷəŋən speaking/Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ territories).
Research
I am interested in understanding how coastal ecosystems differ along natural environmental gradients and how that affects their response to climate change and other anthropogenic impacts, as well as using this knowledge to improve biomonitoring paradigms of coastal communities. This has manifested in different ways so far, from using environmental DNA metabarcoding to study Southern California kelp forests to conducting mesocosm experiments to understand how Hong Kong oysters would respond to climate change conditions. Currently, my MSc thesis project uses satellite remote sensing, historical data, in-situ data, and local knowledge to characterize the spatial-temporal resilience of kelp forests in the Broughton Archipelago, BC, Canada (Kwakwaka'wakw territories) as a part of the Indigenous-led Broughton Aquaculture Transition Initiative’s (Mamalilikulla, 'Namgis and the Kwikwasut’lnuxw Haxwa’mis First Nations) kelp monitoring project.
Read more about the work we do in the UVic Spectral Remote Sensing Lab!
Photographer
Outside of research, I am an avid photographer with experience in commercial and journalistic work. However, my true passion within photography lies in using it to uncover the unseen beauty of the world around us, especially in nature. I am a firm believer that to best protect our communities, human or more-than-human, we must have a connection with them, and photography is a good way to introduce parts of the natural world that people may not be familiar with. In a way, photography is ultimately another conservation tool for me.
Everything else
I am an outdoors enthusiast and enjoy hiking, freediving, climbing, caving, and volunteering with ecological restoration events (catch me at some crag on the weekends!). My last name 文 actually roughly means 'literary [person]' and as such, I love reading and also dabble in journalistic and creative non-fiction writing. I'm also super passionate about the future of Hong Kong, good urban design, and queer liberation.