Shan Wong is an American of Hong Kong origin. She is a Ph.D. candidate and a Presidential Graduate Fellow at Texas Tech University, studying the population genetics and mycorrhizal association of Vanilla species in Costa Rica and seed germination in another orchid, Platanthera, in the USA. Earlier, she was a McNair Scholar completing her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from Florida International University with an undergrad research studying invasive orchids and their mycorrhizal fungi in southern Florida. During her time in undergrad, Shan worked in multiple positions as an intern at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Hong Kong, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and volunteered at Guangxi University, China. Later, Shan completed her Master’s degree in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management at the University of Oxford supported by the Frost Scholarship. She became increasingly interested in natural resource management through her graduate experience and master's research in Europe. Her interests include community ecology, island biogeography, wildlife conservation, and wildlife trade policy and management. She is a budding ecologist, passionate about biodiversity conservation and would like to be a professional scientist contributing towards it. Shan is also an active member of the IUCN Orchid Specialist Group and Illegal Trade Group, and coordinator (2022-2023) of the PlantingScience initiative of the Botanical Society of America.