Some things I’ve been recently working on:

• Serving the editorial committee at Revista Íconema, a cultural magazine

• Partaking in the 2026 AAA Op-Ed Project, a mentorship program for anthropologists to transform their research into journalistic bylines

• Presenting a paper in the panel “Value in Question: Marxian Perspective on Landscapes” at the VANDA (Vienna Anthropology Days) Conference in February 2027

• Presenting a paper at Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies in June 2027 (more details TBA)

Hi! I’m a PhD Candidate in Anthropology at Princeton University and an incoming visiting fellow at Aarhus University.

In my dissertation project, I examine how contemporary patterns of uneven development such as forest fragmentation, human-primate conflict, and land-use governance disputes mutually entangle as a series of capitalist frictions in Malaysia. In my ethnographic fieldwork, I have engaged in primate ethological sampling trips, tropical biodiversity walks, residential association meetings, and conducted street interviews with urban residents.

My ethnographic fieldwork has been generously supported by the Wenner-Gren Foundation (Gr. 11070), the Royal Anthropological Institute, the High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies, amongst others.

I welcome emails regarding mutual research interests. I also welcome questions about applying to graduate school, especially from those who are first-generation scholars and/or scholars based in the Global South. Please feel free to reach out: kym@princeton.edu

The body is a theory of the world. Immersion is one of the earliest referential activities in shaping how we navigate society. In my free time, I’m training for the 2027 Copenhagen Marathon and the 2027 Generali Berlin Half Marathon.