Profile

Hyunsoo’s research mainly focuses on how Early Holocene inhabitants developed subsistence and plant-use strategies in response to climate changes. Temporal and geographical focus is the Neolithic Period across northeastern China and Korean Peninsula. His main research method is microscopic analysis of charred seeds, starch, and phytolith remains. Hyunsoo’s Masters project focused on plant resource use in the Houtaomuga site, Jilin Province in northeastern China. Ongoing research projects include plant resource use in the Houtaomuga site and Early Neolithic subsistence in the Jeju Island, Korea. His goal is to contribute to our understanding of the long-term subsistence changes of early East Asian civilization. He is also interested in the peopling of the Pacific Northwest and understanding current climate change through studying earlier climate changes. From 2008 to 2014, he worked at the Chonbuk National University Museum in South Korea, participating in multiple fieldwork projects, artifact conservation, exhibitions, and public events. He is a Fulbright scholar from 2014-2016.