In the summer of 2009, Wen was hired as the production coordinator for Free Range Studios, a small company that offers strategy, branding, and design services for important social messages. With the motto “creativity with a conscience,” Free Range Studios caters almost exclusively to progressive nonprofits, green businesses, and campaigns with environmentally and socially conscious agendas. Wen works in the video department in their Berkeley office, located in Northern California.
“For our videos to be successful, it is first and foremost important that we understand environmental issues ourselves,” says Wen. “I am grateful for the holistic and in-depth education that I received from ENVS. The program provided me with a solid understanding of major environmental issues from interdisciplinary perspectives.”
As Wen continues her internship with Free Range Studios, she is also finishing up her ENVS master’s terminal project: A 45-minute video about the environmental impacts of coffee. In 2005, Wen was awarded the grand prize in an environmental video competition that funded a two-week trip to Costa Rica so she could learn about sustainable coffee farming. To complete her terminal project, Wen later traveled back to Costa Rica and lived in a rural coffee-growing community for four weeks. She captured and edited incredible footage of coffee plantations and mills. “ENVS not only encouraged me to pursue this unique project, but also helped fund a significant portion of it,” says Wen. See some of Wen’s videos here.
Wen earned a B.A. in Biology at Occidental College in Los Angeles. She received a Mellon Foundation research grant to conduct an independent study in Wyoming about the impacts of cattle grazing on plant species. This research project formed the basis of her undergraduate honors thesis.
Before coming to the ENVS program in 2007, Wen spent two seasons as a naturalist at the Los Angeles County Outdoor Science School in Wrightwood, California. She led educational hikes in the San Gabriel Mountains for 5th and 6th graders, teaching students about ecology and earth science. She also worked as a physics and chemistry teacher at Temple City High School.
Wen is from Temple City, California.