Siyeon Joo is a first-generation Korean immigrant and youth environmental advocate based in Baltimore and Louisiana. As a Youth Leadership Council Member with EarthEcho International, she leads campaigns to mobilize ocean advocates, drives the GenSea platform, and works toward protecting 30% of our oceans by 2030. Through EarthEcho's DEIJ Working Group, she collaborated directly with EarthEcho’s board, staff, and fellow Council members to shape the organization’s values, ensuring youth voices guide its future from the inside. She has represented the YLC in EarthEcho’s partnership with NOAA implementing the memorandum of agreement between the two organizations, hosted two in-person Youth Leadership Summits in Baltimore and Louisiana, and moderated a recent High Seas Treaty webinar representing EarthEcho on the global stage. As a former EarthEcho Water Challenge Ambassador, she brought the climate crisis to her own backyard, monitoring the Vermillion River monthly and adding her data to a growing global record of our planet's water health.

Appointed as one of only two nationwide ambassadors for SDG 13: Climate Action with UNA-USA, Siyeon leads climate programming, authors content for national platforms, and collaborates with UN Foundation partners to elevate awareness and drive collective action on climate change. As a former NOAA Ocean Guardian Youth Ambassador and Gulf of Mexico Youth Advisory Congress Member, she co-edited multiple youth Climate Action Toolkits and organized the annual Gulf Reach Institute summits in Corpus Christi, Texas.

As an internationally recognized scientist at the University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Louisiana, Siyeon investigates environmental factors linked to cancer and algal sustainability, presenting at AACR, ASGSR, and earning MIT grant funding. Her work and writing have appeared in The New York Times and Associated Press. A dedicated advocate for justice, equity, and sustainability, she continues to inspire action for systemic change. In her free time, she enjoys reviewing movies, creating content on Instagram, and exploring the great outdoors!