Kathy Poh (Ms)

Proposed Thesis Title:  Of Birds, Snakes and Gardens: Producing Knowledge of Singapore’s Natures during the Japanese Occupation, 1942–1945
Supervisor: Associate Professor Timothy P. Barnard

Kathy Poh is a Master’s student in the History Department at the National University of  Singapore (NUS). Her research interests focus on science, culture and ways of knowing, particularly in Southeast Asia maritime societies and their trade networks. Her thesis examines natural history work that was conducted in Singapore during the Japanese Occupation, and explores the interwoven cultural and scientific significances of these activities.

Kathy is currently part of the Biodiversity Histories team at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, where she leads an institutional oral history project and conducts research on past biodiversity in Singapore and Southeast Asia. She has been involved with several book publications, including Archipelago of Islands: Natural and Other Histories of Singapore (2025) and Lala-Land: Singapore’s Seafood Heritage (2024).

Kathy earned her bachelor’s degree from Yale-NUS College in 2020, with a specialization in Art History. Her capstone thesis titled “Still Life for a Changing Climate: A Contemporary View of 17th-century Dutch Painting” received the Prize for Outstanding Capstone Project in Arts and Humanities.