Van Quynh Thi Truong

a true side quest queen

computational scientist

Mission-driven researcher working on multi-agent AI systems, biomedical informatics, and global tech infrastructure.

mixed media creative

As a kid, art helped me understand the world. When we came to the US, I keenly remember my parents worrying about whether our new country and culture would understand or even accept us. While my parents worked 6-7 nights/week, I was often holed away constantly experimenting, drawing, and recreating the things I saw outside our home and in the books we borrowed from our nail salon customers.

In college when I was struggling to keep up in my 600-person college lecture courses, I started writing out my science notes into the format of famous paintings (like Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night). These moments sparked my passion for bringing art and science into public places via crowdsourced sculptures, interactive data visualizations, and asking questions on how we can better cultivate creativity + innovation in everyday life.

multi-sport athlete

I'm a big team sports girl. I think there's something really magical about competing with your team towards a common goal. Sometimes you end up on a team that gets assembled quite randomly from a rag tag crew of total strangers that you may honestly never see again. Life and work are just like that. We never know how much time we have each other other. You just have to find a way to communicate on the field, cheer each other on, and work through your own personal defeats.

Some sports, like cycling, surfing, running, and maybe even rock climbing, fit the bill as solo sports. But actually, there's a huge community aspect to each of these and even when you're facing something by yourself, you have to rewire your inner critic so that you become your own best teammate and coach. If not you, then who?

outdoors & wild

Growing up in Florida, I took for granted the nature around me because hiking, camping, and outdoorsy activities looked totally different than what's sold to us in the media. It took traveling to other states with big mountains and totally different terrain to appreciate what I had back home. More than a decade after college, I discovered that my family had a deeper connection to nature than I ever realized.

From a young age, I learned from oral histories and local knowledge passed down through generations. I watched my parents safely forage for watercress in municipal watersheds. Each winter, I saw the delight on my extended family's faces when giant jellyfish blooms washed ashore and we'd get to enjoy the seasonal Viet-style jellyfish salad. My friend took me foraging a few times and then I kept learning on my own when I started seeing patterns between what I'd harvest and my mom + aunties' own familiarity in Vietnamese to these plants.

stories from the road

Places I've been (and a few I'm headed to). Travel essays might land here eventually (TBD).

stuck in an infinite scroll loop

Slowly, but surely, I'm putting together an assortment of things which morph to form my corner of the internet — vlogs, blog posts, threads, and whatever else I'm self-publishing. Stuff lands here as I post it.