FOO Sze Hui

Science and animals are the two things that never fail to appease my curiosity since young. Driven by this passion, I pursued a Diploma in Veterinary Bioscience at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and chanced upon a sharing session by marine biologists from Singapore that opened my eyes to the wonder of Marine Science academia in Singapore. Ever since then, I endeavour to be a marine biologist – to do science, explore the mysterious ocean, and see interesting phenomena while on the job!  

Working towards that goal, I have attempted two marine research projects during my undergraduate years at NUS. The first was to clarify the identities of a few feather star species using molecular and morphological data. Then, in my Honours thesis, I investigated the physiological and gene expression responses of coral towards sediment smothering stress using RNA-seq. These projects greatly widen my horizon, but most importantly, they allowed me to validate my determination to do Science in my life and propelled me to pursue a PhD in Marine Biology. 

For my PhD, I will be studying the urban marine ecology of echinoderms in Singapore, focusing on the group of echinoids. I have grown fond of echinoderms for their extraordinary forms and peculiar biology during my undergraduate years. I hope my research will shed a light on their local diversity as well as ecological roles in the urban Singapore waters.   

Research interests

Echinoderms, echinoid, urban marine ecology, diversity