Occupation: I'm a jack of all trades. Right now, I'm a "camp counselor" for my kids, taking them crawdad hunting, fishing, swimming, all that summer stuff. During the school year, I volunteer at the schools a lot. I have an adjunct lecturer p
Occupation: Iâm a jack of all trades. Right now, Iâm a âcamp counselorâ for my kids, taking them crawdad hunting, fishing, swimming, all that summer stuff. During the school year, I volunteer at the schools a lot. I have an adjunct lecturer position at Brown University, teaching environmental health and disease. Teaching that was a lot of fun. My degree is in pathobiology, from Brown.
Family: My husband is Warren Ku. He works at Boehringer-Ingelheim. He grounds me and keeps me balanced. We have three boys. Jetson is 11, Myles is 9, and Jared is 6. My parents, Alan and Lea Embree, live here in town, too.
Pets: We have two rats, Toast and Ponyo. And we have a summer guest, the school guinea pig, Minnie. The rats are really good pets.
How long have you lived in Newtown? We have lived here for three years. We were in Rhode Island before that.
What do you like to do in your free time? I serve on the Charter Revision Commission. What I really love to do is horseback riding, but I only get to do that off and on. I love to work in my garden. Iâm more successful with flowers than growing vegetables, but I do a little of both. I read quite a bit, too.
Do you have a favorite book? My favorite books tend to be young adult books. I loved A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine LâEngle, and Summerland by Michael Chabon. I like nonfiction more than fiction, though, and right now Iâm reading A Drunkardâs Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow. Itâs about how we tend to make decisions based on just a little bit of data. You think youâre seeing the whole picture because you get anecdotal stories and you feel you have the information you need. It happens in all we do. Because Iâm a scientist, I like the idea of having a lot of data. Itâs interesting how this applies to being on the Charter Revision Commission.
Do you have a favorite vacation destination? We just visited Washington, D.C., and it was incredible. I hadnât been there to see the sights since I was a kid. It brought back a lot of memories. We generally like to visit new places and see new things, though, so I donât know that we have one favorite place.
What is the best thing about Newtown? The people are what makes Newtown the great place it is. One of our criteria when we moved was to go to the libraries in communities we were considering. The library says a lot about a place. Everyone at the library here was so welcoming. Our neighbors are great, and the teachers our kids have had are incredible.
Who has been the greatest influence in your life? My parents were a huge influence on me, instilling the values I have. More recently, I think my kids are what inspire me to be the best person I can be and to make our community an even better place to be.
Do you have a personal philosophy? It sounds trite, but I think do unto others what you want done to you. I hope Iâm passing that on to my kids, the ability to empathize with other people, to stretch outside of your world to know what others would feel.
Do you have a guilty pleasure? I hate to admit it, but I enjoy watching dumb reality TV. Iâve been a fan of Survivor, and lately those housewives of different ridiculous counties!