Hi! I’m Leah, and I study conservation finance—among other things.

But I don’t exactly fit the mold of a nature-loving Jane (neither the one with Great Apes nor the one with Tarzan), nor am I a finance bro in a Patagonia vest (though I do own their jacket).

I grew up in a metropolis in South Korea, raised by a germaphobic mother. My childhood encounters with “nature” were mostly limited to watering tiny succulents on the balcony of our tenth-floor apartment. We had a couple of goldfish and poodles along the way, but that was about it.

So, I wouldn’t call myself a biologist or a naturalist. And I’m probably not an economist, either. So what am I doing here?

In college, I discovered that my education in science could intersect with my (admittedly vague) desire to make the world a better place. Studying environmental science felt like the right path, and courses on environmental impact assessment and economics were a revelation. Making polluters pay—how exciting! thought 20-year-old me. If I had known how difficult that would be in reality, I might have reconsidered. (Actually, no. I’m a nerd, so that probably would have just motivated me more.)

Now, I find myself navigating the murky waters of conservation finance—exploring how money moves (or doesn’t) to fund biodiversity, who pays, who profits, and whether these mechanisms actually work. It turns out, making polluters pay is complicated. But that’s precisely why it’s worth figuring out.