"A good person, a good scientist, a good researcher," says James "Jim" Allen, Interim Dean for the College of the Environment, Forestry and Natural Sciences at Northern Arizona University.
Yeon-Su Kim has been making her mark on NAU since 1998. She was most recently the executive director for the School of Forestry. The person who held the position before her was actually the one to encourage her to apply for the role.
"She makes things happen where other people may not. The same situation, she can turn it into an opportunity, and she's done that over and over," says Jim.
The NAU community has been devastated since hearing Kim and her husband, Corey Allen, disappeared on Thanksgiving while sea kayaking near Rocky Point. Kim's body was recovered a few days later. As for Corey, only his kayak was found. Groups in Mexico are vowing to continue their search as the family says they are now leaving that to authorities.
"The two children are back in Flagstaff now and one of our faculty members has been spending time at their home," says Jim.
Kim's impact will continue in many ways, as one of her strengths was in outreach and collaboration. She teamed up with the Institute for Native-Serving Educators, putting on seminars with groups of K-12 teachers to help them develop forestry-related curriculum.
"She got us involved, other forestry faculty, who in turn are working with these teachers who, hopefully, will be teaching generations of students in the future," says Jim.
Kim was also passionate about increasing diversity in the profession.
"She made some connections that led to funding that brought nine graduate students from Indonesia to NAU in forestry. All of them finished their degrees and went back to Indonesia and now, they are working in the field," says Jim.
Before Kim's death, we're told she was working on a funding proposal to encourage the next generation to join the forestry profession.
"We are going to do our best to finish that proposal and get it submitted. One, because it's a really important worthy goal but also, we look at it as a way to honor her legacy," says Jim.
