Maddie Hsu ’25 entered the world of competitive swimming at the age of 7. By the time she arrived at Taft, her passion for all things aquatic had deepened—she wanted to expand her water repertoire.
“I decided to learn how to scuba dive,” says Maddie. “Scuba diving in Hong Kong was like walking through a sandstorm. There were rarely ever any living corals or fishes swimming around, and visibility was a good one meter. Seeing the condition of the waters and the sparseness of corals in Hong Kong, I became devoted to restoring coral reefs all around the world.”
Maddie created an outreach platform named Reef Reviver (@reefreviver). And for three consecutive summers, she engaged in marine restoration work in the laboratories at University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Last summer, Maddie decided to get out of the lab and into the field. She traveled to Padang Bai, a small coastal town in southeastern Bali, Indonesia.
Since 2019, The Livingseas Foundation has been building a 5-hectare coral reef in Bali. The project restores the region’s lost marine habitat and biodiversity while supporting the local communities who depend on this reef for their livelihoods and tourism. The project has quickly and effectively increased underwater life, resulting in a 10-fold increase in the algae, fish, and invertebrate populations, and a 15- fold increase in coral growth.
“My main goal In Padang Bai was to set up a carbon capture experiment,” Maddie explains. “Many people have claimed that coral reefs release CO2 into the atmosphere, causing climate change. Although coral reefs are a natural source of CO2, this source is much less than fossil fuels. The project would prove that the carbon corals absorb and store the CO2. On my first few days, I discussed the experimental design with the founder of Livingseas, then I was in the factory with another intern welding and cutting the pieces of metal that would be used for the structure, where the pieces of coral would be suspended. Afterwards, we moved the entire structure into the water and tied pieces of coral to the structure. Most of the time, I was working under the founder of Livingseas. However, I also worked with undergraduate and graduate student interns, who were majoring in topics ranging from engineering to economics to tourism. I was the only teenager amongst the team. I also worked alongside Padang Bai locals.”
When she wasn’t working on her own research, Maddie worked on reef maintenance, which included restoring loose coral to the reef, and cataloguing the fish and coral species on the restoration site.
“My favorite part of my internship was harvesting corals off the shores of a hotel that was about to be reclaimed. After saving these corals, we brought them back to the site and planted them in the reef,” says Maddie. “Overall, the internship left me with an even stronger passion in marine biology, and my study on coral reef carbon capturing is one that I want to continue in college. Only two weeks after setting up my experiment, the corals had already started growing around their structures. This experience gave me hope for the future of coral reefs and how with the correct efforts, coral reefs all around the world will be able to be restored. In the future, I hope to further educate the younger generation on important matters like how the marine environment is impacted by factors like pollution and climate change, so that they can grow up and continue the work that our generation has done.”
Maddie’s Summer Journey was made possible in part by a Robert Keyes Poole ’50 Fellowship grant. Established in memory of Robert Keyes Poole '50, Taft teacher from 1956 to 1962, Poole Fellowships are awarded each year to enable Taft students to engage in travel or in projects consistent with Mr. Poole's lifetime interest in wildlife and the environment.