Graces Ching is a research assistant under the Climate and Vegetation pillar in the Cooling Singapore 2.0 project. With a background in geography, she enjoys unpacking the environment-society interrelations so that she can better understand the world and people around her, inform policies and brainstorm solutions to create a better world. She has conducted extensive field research in Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore applying a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodology. In Cooling Singapore 2.0, she is studies the role of vegetation and how it provides vital ecosystem services using microclimate models, improving outdoor thermal comfort for pedestrians and tackle urban heat in cities. In the current phase of the project, the team will develop an island-wide Digital Urban Climate Twin (DUCT) in Singapore by integrating relevant computational models as well as regional- and micro-scale climate models that explores the effects of heat.
Throughout her undergraduate years she has undertaken several research projects. The first includes thermal comfort research by surveying pedestrians in green spaces, and observing adaptive behaviours and walking habits of office workers in the Central Business District (CBD). She was also a field survey supervisor for PUB’s Smart Showers Programme, evaluating the efficacy of smart technologies to reduce household water wastage in Singapore. In 2020, she interviewed several climate experts in Singapore and Thailand and consolidated their communication tools to plug the perception gap between public and expert knowledge on climate change issues. All her experiences have contributed to building up interdisciplinary knowledge across various fields from climate change & sustainability to society and culture.