Christian Chung, originally from Waxhaw, North Carolina, is a current student at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy pursuing a Master of Public Policy. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2024 with a B.S. in Biology, a B.A. in Public Policy (Science, Environmental, and International Development concentration), and a minor in Environmental Science. Throughout his undergraduate career, Christian embraced various roles in environmental engineering, science policy, public health, and environmental advocacy. His recent experiences include exploring water chemistry and developing novel purification technologies at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, analyzing inter- and intrastate PFAS (“forever chemical”) policies with the North Carolina Collaboratory, and conducting research at the Data-Driven EnviroLab related to climate policy, technology policy, and international development. Inspired by the balancing act between scientific ambition and practical policy, Christian aspires to pilot pragmatic and equitable solutions for environmental governance and diplomacy in his future career. Academia and work aside, Christian enjoys weight training, yoga, live music, traveling, and exploring new hobbies.

Marcella Mercer is originally from Nebraska, but has most recently called Denver her home. Before coming to Duke, she served as project manager for the Colorado Governor’s Office of Economic Recovery, where she supported the state’s work in managing billions of dollars of federal stimulus funds. Prior to this role, she taught 6th and 7th Grade Reading and Social Studies in Denver Public Schools. Her investment in her students led her classes to achieve up to two times the national average growth in reading skills. She was also awarded a Fulbright fellowship to teach students and develop educational programming in Malaysia in 2019. Marcella graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As a journalist, she wrote for state and national newspapers. Her work was featured in The Atlantic’s “More than 100 Exceptional Works of Journalism” and has earned several national honors, including “Story of the Year” at the Hearst Journalism Awards. In addition, she was a team member on a project that won the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Grand Prize.