Ow Yan Xiang

Dr Ow is a seagrass scientist who has been working on this charismatic ecosystem since 2012. She started as a marine plant physiologist when she did her PhD with James Cook University, Australia, where she fell for the beauty of seagrass meadows while studying how they respond to climate change-related stresses. In 2016, she came home to join the National University of Singapore as a post-doctoral research fellow, with the aim to understand seagrass beds in the local urban marine environment. Over the years, her pursuit of conserving and restoring seagrasses has allowed her to interact with various communities and stakeholders. This has made her appreciate that communication and engagement is probably the bigger part of a scientist’s role.