Sonya Lee is a Korean-Canadian filmmaker and National Geographic Explorer dedicated to stories that intersect science, nature, people and culture. She applies impact-strategy and storytelling to engage new audiences in ocean issues.

She is currently focusing on projects that combine her love of food, her Korean culture and ocean conservation with her National Geographic grant and a 3 x 22 documentary series called Our Ocean Table for TELUS Originals.

As a producer-director, she focuses on ocean projects for CBC, PBS, ARTE, and Love Nature. She is currently directing a CBC Short Doc on endemic lampreys on Vancouver Island. Her latest film, Jawsome: Canada’s Great White Sharks, aired on CBC’s The Nature of Things in January 2024 and has been nominated by the Canadian Academy for Best Science and Nature Documentary or Series for the Canadian Screen Awards 2025. It will be released internationally on Nat Geo WILD in 2025.

With over a decade of experience in science communication, Sonya was previously the Science Producer for the National Film Board of Canada’s Ocean School project, producing over 100 media pieces including documentaries, VR/AR experiences, and multimedia interactives.

She is passionate about community-collaborative filmmaking and ethical science communication, leading workshops nationally and internationally. In 2022, she was Media Faculty for OceanX’s Young Explorers Program aboard the Ocean Xplorer. Sonya is a 2024 National Geographic Explorer, NEWF mentor, 2021 Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellow, and a 2022 Global Career Accelerator participant with the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers. She has a background in Marine Biology and International Development Studies and you will find her in the ocean as an avid diver and fish nerd.

Film and TV

As an independent filmmaker she was a Director, Co-producer, Co-writer on Jawsome: Canada’s Great White Sharks, a 44 min Canadian broadcast film for the CBC Nature of Things with Jeff Turner and Chelsea Turner at River Road Films.

She is currently co-directing and hosting a 3-part documentary series called Our Ocean Table for TELUS originals with Jugaad Sisters. The series is an adventure into the sustainability of seafood in iconic Korean cultural dishes and connecting ocean conservation to cultural conservation.

Previously, she was the Science Producer for Ocean School, an ocean education media project of the National Film Board of Canada, and has produced over 100 media pieces including short documentary videos, 360 videos, web-based interactives, and AR/VR experiences from Canada's Atlantic coast (Fogo Island, NL; Malpeque Bay, PEI), Pacific coast (Haíɫzaqv Nation), Townsville (Australia) and Raja Ampat (Indonesia).

Science Communication

Sonya has been a science communicator for over ten years, and facilitates Science Communication Workshops nationally and internationally. She was part of the Media Faculty for OceanX’s Young Explorer Program on board RV OceanXplorer, a program for young scientists and filmmakers from predominantly historically marginalized and excluded communities.

She also works with scientists and researchers to produce science outreach material to share research outcomes with a wide range of target audiences through her company, Plankton Productions.

Workshops and Panels

2024 | World Congress of Science and Factual Producers | Redefining Co-Production with(in) Africa | Session Co-Producer

2024 | NEWF Fellows Summit and Congress | Mentor

2023 | Jackson Wild Summit | Community Co-Creation Panel | Producer and Moderator

2023 | IMPAC 5 | Ocean Literacy Dialogues Reaching mass Audiences | Panelist

2022 | OceanX | Young Explorers Program | Media Faculty

2021 | Canadian Ocean Literacy Coalition | Ocean Decade Campaign Workshop | Presenter

Fellowships

2023 | Documentary Organization of Canada Northwest - Breakthrough Program

2023 | Story Money Impact - Pod Fellow

2022 | World Congress of Science and Factual Producers- Tier 1 Emerging Producer

2021 | 2021 Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellow

2021 | Reelworld Producer Accelerator Program

Education and Certifications

Marine Biology and International Development Studies from Dalhousie University

Diver Certification Board of Canada- Commercial SCUBA diver

PADI - Divemaster

PFI - Freediver

Sonya is currently living on what is now Vancouver Island and is a guest on the unceded lək̓ʷəŋən Traditional Territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.