Commencement Issue: Korin Tangtrakul

In five years, Korin Tangtrakul has strived  to make Main Campus a little greener.

After graduating, Korin Tangtrakul will use her dual degree in environmental studies and geography and urban studies and minor in Japanese to study urban and agriculture planning around the world.

The Ringoes, N.J., native, who transferred from the University of San Diego during her sophomore year, has studied in Tokyo and Malawi, Africa.

Tangtrakul and her roommates plan to go backpacking in Thailand and Southeast Asia in August and, a month later, they will go to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup.

Tangtrakul was a part of Temple’s women’s rugby club team that scored a second-place finish in the Division II National Title Championships in California.

After backpacking, she will begin a one-year, English-teaching assistantship in Thailand, her father’s birthplace, through a Fulbright Scholarship.

“I’m really drawn to go back to Thailand for an extended amount of time to just be in the country my father was born in and get that connection to my family,” Tangtrakul said.

While in Philadelphia, the fifth-year senior has served as the president of Students for Environmental Action and the director of Philly Eco Kids, a joint project with SEA and Project Education for the Development of Unity.
Tangtrakul said a “huge project” for the Philly Eco Kids was revamping Dunbar Elementary School’s rooftop garden and making it accessible for students.

“[Philly Eco Kids] is probably my favorite thing that I’ve ever done at Temple,” Tangtrakul said.

While leading SEA, Tangtrakul worked alongside Temple Student Government Student Body President Colin Saltry, then-senate president, to promote the proposed “green fee,” which would help create sustainability projects and initiatives on campus. However, the University Fee Committee did not approve it.

As a Diamond Research Scholar, Tangtrakul presented her research on the Malawi agricultural system at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting. Despite plans to travel internationally, Trangtrakul plans to return to Philadelphia.

“I definitely want to come back to Philly, and I would like to work in the mayor’s office as a transportation and planning person,” Tangtrakul said. “I think Philly has a lot of great potential. And it’s so much more of a home to me.”

Connor Showalter can be reached at connor.showalter@temple.edu.