JUSTL participant: Dr Jacky Chun Kit Kwok
Dr Jacky Chun Kit Kwok is a Marine Conservation Officer at the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) in Hong Kong. He was awarded his PhD in 2015 in the laboratory of Professor Put Ang Jr., in the Simon F.S. Li Marine Laboratory at the The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he investigated the spatial and temporal signatures of heavy metals in a variety of Hong Kong corals (Pavona decussata, Platygyra acuta, Porites lobate, Porites lutea and Acropora tumida). He also conducted toxicology studies to investigate the effect of heavy metal and organic pollutants on different developmental stages of P. acuta. After completing his PhD, Dr Kwok was employed as a Lecturer in the Community College of City University, where he was responsible for teaching courses in the Environmental Studies programme as well as some General Education courses on topics such as Environmental Impact and Monitoring, and Nature Conservation in Hong Kong.
Current Work
Dr Kwok started work at the AFCD in early 2017. Since he began, he has been responsible for conducting a number of major marine ecological studies in Hong Kong. These include analysing the bleaching of corals and bioerosion, as well as studying the diversity of soft corals, octocorals, and reef fish in Hong Kong waters. Dr Kwok is also heavily involved in designing and launching various education programmes to promote marine biodiversity. These include the Hong Kong Marine Biodiversity Roving Exhibition, which has been consecutively launched in 2017-2019, and the production of a documentary on Hong Kong Marine Biodiversity. In addition, he is the leader of the AFCD Coral Working Group for Marine Biodiversity survey, which is responsible for the ecological monitoring of the coral communities in Hong Kong.
JUSTL Programme
Dr Kwok participated in the 2011 JUSTL programme. His mentor was Dr Ann Tarrant (WHOI), and he worked on a project with her to determine the expression of genes in the Starlet sea anemone (Nematostella vectensis) following exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs; found in crude oil) and UV light. It is known that PAHs from oil spills can persist in the environment and accumulate in the food chain, and it has been suggested that the toxicity of PAHs might be enhanced by UV irradiation. Dr Kwok used molecular biology techniques to investigate the expression of various different genes in adult N. vectensis exposed to UV and/or PAH treatment, and some of his data were subsequently published in The Journal of Experimental Biology*.
In addition to his laboratory-based work, Dr Kwok also enjoyed the large number of lectures and seminars that were on offer “by renowned scientists worldwide.” He found it amazing to learn from them about the behaviour, ecology and physiology of the different marine organisms.
Summing up his time in Woods Hole, Dr Kwok said that, “Spending two months in a fabulous institution, with good mentors and peers, was indeed a very effective and excellent opportunity for a post-graduate student to learn how to deliver quality research outcomes.” In addition, he was especially thankful, “to Dr Ann Tarrant and her Post-Doc, Dr Adam M. Reitzel, for their willingness and patience to teach me everything in the lab as well as being good friends of mine.” Indeed, Dr Kwok was surprised and happy to meet Dr Reitzel (who is now an associate Professor at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC, USA) at a Gordon Research Conference held at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2018. He said, “I am so glad to see the people I met at WHOI again, and know they are continuing their hard work in the field of marine science.”
With regards to the JUSTL programme, Dr Kwok said that although he is not working in marine science research anymore, he is very happy to be working as a Marine Conservation Officer at the AFCD. He believes that what he is doing now is highly relevant to his previous research, and that, “the mind-set, vision and exposure built during the JUSTL programme are important assets that all helped to shape my career.”
*Tarrant, A.M., Reitzel, A.M., Kwok, C.K., Jenny, M.J. (2013) Activation of the cnidarian oxidative stress response by ultraviolet radiation, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and crude oil. The Journal of Experimental Biology 217:1444-1453.