Hi! ^.^

My name is Danbee (단비), which in Korean means (literally) “sweet rain” and (idiomatically) “rain that comes at just the right moment”.

I’m a queer Korean-American field neuroscientist, storyteller, dancer, and dreamer who spends a lot of time thinking about anatomy, movement, empowerment, community building, re-indigenisation, diasporas, and the ocean. I love being in the wilderness, especially in the mountains and by the sea.

I love helping experts across specialities collaborate and share insights. I especially enjoy crafting multi-sensory interactive free-choice learning experiences.

I got hooked on the neuroscience of storytelling while co-writing and choreographing an original musical called Hack, Punt, Tool (you can watch the 2017 production on YouTube). Since then I’ve written and performed a set of original “science songs”; created an interactive aquarium exhibit that collected neuroscience data from over 24,000 visitors; and self-published a YA sci-fi graphic novel called The First VIRS.

My dream futures are full of intergenerational communities of creative and cooperative people passionate about lifelong learning and mutual benefit. I believe that empowering everyone to study nervous systems in their daily lives and making neuroscience research as accessible as possible is an important part of achieving this future.

I am currently based in the UK, but I travel often in order to also be in community with loved ones in the US and Portugal.

I organize and teach for the Appalachian Institute for Creative Learning, a summer enrichment camp for rising 3rd through 12th graders in the US, and Neuronautas, a summer intensive field neuroscience program for teenagers in Portugal. I’m an alumni mentor for the MIT freshman seminar course Terrascope.

If you would like to get in touch, please email me at danbee[at]alum[dot]mit[dot]edu.

Curriculum Vitae