Hyun-Yong is an entomologist and PhD candidate at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. I reached out to him because when I met him a few years back, I appreciated his thoughtfulness and his quirkiness. He's someone who doesn't fit neatly into categories—a person who might be described as contrarian or sui generis, someone of his own kind. In his work as an entomologist, Hyun-Yong also draws from his training in environmental philosophy, especially the phenomenological tradition, which centers on observing the world, its things, and its occurrences neutrally—with curiosity and wonder. From the beginning, his work has explored the blurred boundaries between “nature” and “artificiality,” asking how biodiversity can flourish in spaces shaped by both humanity and ecology. That includes hybrid landscapes such as solar fields in the Northeastern U.S., or the Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea, where Hyun-Yong is originally from. In this conversation, we trace Hyun-Yong’s journey from his childhood fascination with insects to his current projects as a doctorate student. We talk about ADHD as both a challenge and a source of focus for him, and his use of poetry to describe nature exactly as it is. Support the project: patreon.com/TherapyfortheWorld Music credits: “Limit 70,” licensed by Kevin MacLeod “Meditation” by Jules Massenet, from the Library of Congress Jukebox