Kyungsoo Yoo
Kyungsoo Yoo is a soil scientist at the University of Minnesota. He has explored soils across the world, observing how the natural and anthropogenic forces shape the earth under our feet in places like Alaska, Fennoscandia, the Upper Midwest of the US, and islands off the coast of South Korea.
At the University of Minnesota, Yoo is a professor in the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate. He studies carbon and nutrient cycles in soil, and has a collaborative project underway with other HSC members to explore how native plants can mitigate against the erosion impacts of jumping worms and restore lost ecosystem services.
Yoo began his scientific career studying atomic physics for his undergraduate and MS at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea. But the call of social justice and human rights in the early 1990’s drew him towards ecology. In 2003, he completed his PhD in Ecosystem Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley.
Yoo is also a passionate storyteller, using the power of stories and experiences to foster curiosity about the natural world and its connection to humanity. He is working with international filmmakers on cultural documentaries on soil and earthworms. In his personal life, Yoo loves to sing in his church choir, and spend time with his wife and three sons.
