SMU student Jerrie Liao leads the Reef Alert marine conservation project at SMU – where she is responsible for taking students on dive trips, documenting coral and shark activities, and providing data to marine biologists for research. As a result of her passion towards marine conservation, she was chosen to be part of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative Marine Debris Expedition this year and participated in the Youth Leadership Summit held in Indonesia where conference participants discussed the challenges of marine conservation in the region. She shared how she had cultivated her interest in marine conservation while studying at SMU, and spoke about the devastating impact of excessive plastic use on marine ecosystem.