Lena Tan
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Height | 1.65 m |
| Weight | 55 kg |
| Sex | Female |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
Profile (long form):
Dr. Lena Tan is the Ark’s lead xenobotanist, renowned for her ability to coax alien flora into yielding both sustenance and insight. Petite at 1.65 m and 55 kg, she moves with quiet urgency, her dark-brown eyes perpetually scanning patterns in leaf veining and spore flux. Her lab coat often bears faint stains of chlorophyll and formaldehyde.
Defining Life Moments:
- Flooded Taipei Lab (Age 6): In the aftermath of the Great Flood of ’88, young Lena tasted mud-laced rainwater and discovered the hidden sweetness of decay and rebirth—an experience that shaped her lifelong reverence for resilience in life’s smallest forms.
- First Bioluminescent Basil (University Thesis): As a graduate student at National University, she engineered a basil strain that glowed faint teal under UV light, earning her the “Emerging Innovator in Xenobiology” award.
- Ark’s Greenhouse Breakthrough (Cycle 47): On the Ark, she identified a photosynthetic dust that pulsed in Fibonacci rhythms—a discovery that seeded the ship’s first hypothesis of sapient xenobiology.
Education & Training:
- B.Sc. in Botany, National University of Taiwan
- Ph.D. in Xenobiology and Synthetic Ecology, CalTech
- Specialized postdoctoral fellowship in astroplant genomics
Work & Achievements:
- Developed nutrient-efficiency protocols that increased greenhouse yield by 32 %.
- Authored the Ark’s soil-transposition manual, enabling in-situ cultivation within 72 hours of touchdown.
- Led the controlled-exposure trials of photosynthetic motes, balancing symbiosis with human safety protocols.
Health & Maintenance:
Lena experiences chronic insomnia—averaging 2–3 hours per cycle—which she counters with micro-doses of nootropic basil extract. She reports episodic sinus pressure from prolonged exposure to airborne spores, managed with pressurized respirator sessions.
Social Aspects & Relationships:
Highly collaborative but intensely focused, Lena often loses track of meal times. She’s the first person crew members consult on botanical anomalies and maintains a small circle of confidants—especially Markus, whose steady presence grounds her more flighty creativity.
Relationship Status:
Single; dedicates most of her emotional energy to her work and the living greenhouse.