Katherine Hee-Yeon Tae
Hi! My name is Katherine, and I'm a senior at Phillips Academy.
I'm originally from Phoenix, Arizona, but I also grew up in
Los Angeles and Seoul.
My passions are storytelling and the environment-and storytelling about the environment. I'm always asking why things happen, and how I can make a difference.
Filmmaker
As a filmmaker, I tell stories that might otherwise go unheard, focusing on everyday moments and the larger stories they reveal. By doing so, I discover connections between seemingly disparate worlds and make sense of my own.
Patjuk
Documentary, 2025
ABOUT THE FILM
Through Korean folklore, family ritual, and a bowl of red bean porridge, Patjuk explores food as a form of cultural memory and connection.
Ttangttameokgi
Narrative Short, 2026
ABOUT THE FILM
The Korean childhood land-taking game becomes a metaphor for immigration, crossing borders, inherited expectations, and belonging.
Entangled
Experimental Documentary, 2026
ABOUT THE FILM
An experimental documentary that follows the afterlife of discarded plastic, from everyday consumption to marine ecosystems.
Untitled
Drama, in production
ABOUT THE FILM
A drama about a rowing legacy passed between grandfather and son.
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS & AWARDS
Behind the Camera
Documentary Production Intern
PBS SoCal · 2025–Present · Producer: Bonnie Boswell
• Officially credited on every episode of the PBS SoCal docuseries Becoming America with Bonnie Boswell (2025–present)
• Sole high school intern: organized 200+ video and audio files, led archival research, and supported grant materials and production communications
• Currently in pre-production on Episode 3
Music Arranger & Flutist
Film music arranger and performer (2025) · Orchestral and ensemble flutist, 8 years
•Arranged Mom Arirang (엄마 아리랑), a hit Korean trot song, and recorded it as the score for my short film Patjuk (2025) with Native American flutist Dr. Suzanne Teng at Mystic Journey
•Principal and 2nd flute in orchestras and ensembles for the past 8 years: New England Conservatory (NEC), Phillips Academy Symphony Orchestra & Wind Ensemble, Phoenix Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Metropolitan Youth Symphony
Writer
GrubStreet Teen Fellowship (stipend) · Yale Young Writers Workshop (2026) · Managing Editor, The Courant
•Selected for the GrubStreet Teen Summer Writing Fellowship (1 of 20 stipended positions from 100+ applicants) and the Yale Young Writers Workshop
•Managing Editor of The Courant, Phillips Academy’s literary and arts magazine
•Scholastic Art & Writing Awards: Silver Key in Poetry, two Honorable Mentions in Personal Essay
Research
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, CA
2025-26
Ocean STEM Fellow · Group Research Lead
Built a solar (PVT) heat-recovery system to grow Chlorella for PHB bioplastic, then led a 3-person team that quantified the trade-off: 1.57× higher outdoor yield at the cost of 29% lower film strength
UC San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, CA
2025
Research Scholar · Group Research Co-Lead
Co-led a 4-person team testing warming effects on California mussel byssal fibers; found fibers strengthened with heat while field coverage fell 2.6% per 1 °C
Seacoast Science Center, NH
2024
Marine Science Fellow
Ran controlled pH trials to measure how ocean acidification changes feeding rates and predatory behavior in the invasive European green crab
University of Arizona, College of Public Health, AZ
2024
Student Research Intern · Young Global Leaders Program
Supported environmental epidemiology research on disinfectant and sanitizer efficacy across porous and non-porous surfaces
HISTORICAL RESEARCH
PUBLICATIONS
AWARDS
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Harnessing PVT Heat to Cultivate Algae for Renewable Energy Efficiency and Plastic Pollution Reduction
IYRC Journal, 2026 · First Author
Effects of Rising Temperatures on Byssal Fiber Strength and Population Stability in the California Mussel
IYRC Journal, 2026 · First Author
Quantity–Quality Trade-Off in PHB Produced by Chlorella sp. Under PVT Assisted Outdoor Cultivation
Journal of High School Science, Under Revision
· First Author
•GENIUS Olympiad Science Finalist (2026)
•Greenwich Olympiad Silver Medal (2026)
•AltaSea Second Place & Best Experiment (2025)
•California State Senate Recognition (2025)
In-Between the Lines: How ‘The New Woman’ of the 1920s Was Perceived Through Phillips Academy and Abbot Academy Students’ Writing
HSS 300 Research Paper · Presented at Abbot Academy Alumnae Day · 2026
Compared 1920s student writing in Abbot Academy’s The Courant and Phillips Academy’s The Mirror, alongside scrapbooks from the Andover Archives, to show how Abbot students claimed “The New Woman” as modern and civically engaged while Phillips students reduced her to a caricature.
The Propaganda of Protection: Korean Women and the Moral Language of U.S. Intervention in the Korean War
HSS 300 Research Paper · 2026
Analyzed Korean War leaflets, NSC documents, and military films to show how propaganda used images of Korean women as “people to be saved” to justify U.S. intervention, even as those same women faced exploitation and violence under the wartime order
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Presenting my research and reflecting on the process at Abbot Academy Alumnae Day, 2026
Leadership
BEYOND CAMPUS
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U.S. Youth Leadership Council for the UN Ocean Decade
Fundraising Co-Head · Youth Leadership Council Member · 2025–2026
•Youngest of 45 national youth leaders selected to the council
•Authored an ocean-literacy toolkit now used in 12+ classrooms and delivered educational programming
•Advocated for ocean and climate priorities to U.S. lawmakers
•Created and led the organization-wide #Roots2Ripples fundraising campaign
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The Tipi Raisers
Gen7 Youth Lead Ambassador · Summer Volunteer, Navajo and Hopi Reservations, AZ · 2024–Present
•Assisted with home restoration on the Hopi Reservation as a summer volunteer: plumbing repairs, deck building for elders, and community-building reconstruction
•Maintained gravesites on the reservation alongside community members as part of cultural preservation work
•Led social-media revitalization to connect volunteer teens with Native teens year-round, applying marketing and content skills
ON CAMPUS
Phillips Academy Sustainability Coalition
President, Climate Circle · Co-Founder, Equal Earth Podcast · 2024–Present
Lead Climate Circle programming and climate-art workshops; co-founded the Equal Earth environmental-justice podcast; lead Climate Reading Club sessions
EBI Senior & Alumni Representative
Phillips Academy · 2026–Present
Design and facilitate weekly EBI (Empathy, Balance, Inclusion) seminars for 10th-grade students; represent students at Trustee and Family Weekends and alumni events
Andover Moviemakers Club
Board Member · 2026–Present
Direct club operations, organize workshops with industry professionals, and lead the annual 24-hour “Flash Films” competition
PA Wings Initiative
Board Member · 2024–2026
Organized campus and neighborhood clothing drives for the school’s student-run thrift sale and charitable fundraising
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