Shows
Biosphere 2 Podcast#026: The Worlds Hottest Rainforest - Dr. Joost Van HarenWe are joined by Dr. Joost Van Haren, the research director of the rainforest biome at Biosphere 2. Joost has been conducting research at Biosphere 2 since 1995, executing experiments in the rainforest related to rainforest ecosystem responses to climate change, including carbon cycling, water cycling, temperature limits, and the effects of drought. He is also an assistant research professor at the University of Arizona, where he teaches science courses and facilitates internships through the W.A. Franke Honors College. In this episode, we talk about the amazing research that's been done in the Biosphere 2 rainforest- past and present. We d...
2024-12-021h 48
Biosphere 2 PodcastDesert Arks Podcast - Dr. Forest Rhower, Dr. Breeann Kirby, and Dr. Ty RoachToday we are joined by Dr. Forest Rhower, Dr. Breeann Kirby, and Dr. Ty Roach. Forest, Breeann, and Ty were all on site at Biosphere 2 as facilitators of the Desert Arks Meeting– a meeting where scientists and artists from institutions worldwide gather around a common experiment in coral reef ecology, known as the Coral Reef Arks project. An ark is a large geodesic structure submerged in the ocean that serves as a mesocosm for studying coral reef ecosystems. Imagine massive midwater structures colonized with luminescent corals, anemones, crabs and urchins, and circled by giant schools of fish. Th...
2024-05-231h 19
Talking With Tech AAC PodcastKelley Coleman - Pushing Back Against an Incorrect AAC EvaluationThis week, Rachel interviews Kelley Coleman, speaker, author, and advocate! Kelley talks about her family’s AAC journey and her role as the mother of Aaron, a complex communicator in the 4th grade who uses AAC to communicate. She shares about her new book, Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child, as well as some of the high- and lowlights of her family’s AAC journey, including when Aaron’s school SLP suggested he go from high-tech AAC to a picture flip book!
Before the interview, Rachel shares about turning a client's question...
2024-03-091h 14Talking With Tech AAC PodcastAaron Marsters: Supporting Assistive Technology for Students on US Military Bases Across EuropeTrigger Warning: This week’s banter includes some descriptions of trauma. If you would prefer to only listen to this week’s interview, please skip ahead to 27:19.
This week, Chris interviews Aaron Marsters, an Assistive Technology Instructional Systems Specialist for Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA)! Aaron shares about his role supporting the assistive technology needs of students on military bases across Europe, in his case, particularly in Germany. He shares ideas about AI and AAC, ways they collaborate to share implementation across Europe, and how they have adopted the Specific Language System First approach on ba...
2024-01-251h 12
Biosphere 2 PodcastThe Surfing Scientist - Dr. Ty RoachIn this episode, we are joined by Dr. Ty Roach. Ty is a molecular biologist, freelance scientist, and a decorated competitive surfer and wrestler. Ty is a former Postdoctoral Researcher at Biosphere 2, where he split time between the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology and living on site at Biosphere 2. He has done extensive research in the Biosphere 2 Ocean system, logging over 100 hours underwater. Today, Ty is making his way through academia as a freelance scientist with research focused on microbial and viral ecology, coral reef science, and theoretical biophysics. He is currently an Adjunct Research Professor at the Viral...
2023-10-282h 36
Biosphere 2 PodcastThe Biosphere 2 Lung - Bill DempsterToday we are joined by Bill Dempster. From 1985 to 1994, Bill Dempster served as the Director of Systems Engineering and chief engineer for Space Biospheres Ventures, the company responsible for designing and building Biosphere 2. As Systems Engineer, Bill was responsible for managing the integrity of Biosphere 2's atmospheric seal. This role included leading the design and development of the Biosphere 2 Lung and leading a crucial leak testing campaign required for sealing the structure. After his time at Biosphere 2, Bill went on to serve as the President of the Institute of Ecotechnics, a London-based international ecological development institute where he's continued t...
2023-09-181h 06
ShackcastGaming News and more! | Shackcast Episode 389/17/23 In this episode Aaron talks about the latest in Gaming News and more! Check the links below to find more of my content! Share your thoughts in the comments! (Respectfully) Have a topic you'd like me to cover on the Shackcast? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter! For more episodes check out the Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSiKflGZp7Vo-OsWA5iG4Px7bNkV6ibMe Episode Recorded: 9/17/23 Join My YouTube Community as a Member & support the channel for exclusive perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCchXCQbuqCbWs-kCpmS7...
2023-09-1734 min
Biosphere 2 PodcastSpace Analog for the Moon and Mars - Kai StaatsIn this episode we are joined by Kai Staats. Kai is a veteran developer, designer, filmmaker, and scientist. Kai is the Director of SAM, Space Analog for the Moon and Mars, here at Biosphere 2. SAM is a hi-fidelity, hermetically sealed Mars habitat analog with greenhouse, living quarters, airlock, pressure suits, and a half acre Mars yard. Since 2021 Kai and his team have been constructing SAM, and just last month, SAM hosted it's first two sealed missions, Inclusion 1 and Inclusion 2. Prior to SAM, Kai was co-founder and CEO of the world-renowned Yellow Dog Linux operating system for ten y...
2023-08-151h 06
Biosphere 2 PodcastMicrobial Ecology - Dr. Steve AllisonIn this episode we are joined by microbial ecologist and climate scientist, Dr. Steve Allison. Dr. Allison is a Professor of Ecology in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of California Irvine. He holds a PhD in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and in 2013, Dr. Allison was named an Early Career Fellow of the Ecological Society of America. His research addresses the resilience of microbial communities to drought and climate change in southern California ecosystems. His lab studies how microbes function in ecosystems by using both experiments and mathematical models to predict what might happen to microbes a...
2021-10-2147 min
Biosphere 2 PodcastClamsplaining: Giant Clams - Dr. Dan KillamIn this episode, we are joined by Dr. Dan Killam. Dan is a post- doctoral researcher in the Coral Reef Laboratory here at Biosphere 2. Dan's central research focus is the study of giant clams. His research involves growing giant clams to understand how they embed signatures in their shells that relate to the activity of symbiotic algae in the clams bodies. Prior to Biosphere 2, Dan was a Zuckerman Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Haifa in Israel, where he studied the effects of climate change on bittersweet clams found on the Israeli coast. Dan completed his PhD in Paleobiology at...
2021-07-271h 05
Biosphere 2 PodcastCoral Reefs Through Time - Dr. Stuart SandinIn this episode we are joined by Dr. Stuart Sandin. Stuart is the Oliver Chair in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. He is a professor in the Marine Biology Research Division, and he serves as director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation. Sandin has coordinated multiple ship- and land-based expeditions to the remote islands of the central and south Pacific Ocean, with much work conducted in the Line Islands archipelago. He has been using this island gradient and others to study the individual and interacting roles that local human activities and oc...
2021-05-191h 17
Biosphere 2 PodcastSearching for Asteroid Threats and Space Junk - Dr. Vishnu ReddyToday we are joined by Dr. Vishnu Reddy. Dr. Reddy is an Associate Professor of Planetary Sciences at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona. Prior to serving as faculty, Vishnu was a research scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson. He is a co-investigator of NASA's Near Earth Camera Mission to discover 90% of Near Earth Objects larger than 140M. In addition to his work with NASA, Vishnu is part of the space- situational awareness program at UArizona where he has developed a network of small optical sensors to characterize orbital debris and active resident space...
2021-04-071h 04
Biosphere 2 PodcastChasing Ice, Coral, and the Social Dilemma - Jeff OrlowskiJeff Orlowski is the director, producer, and cinematographer of the award-winning films Chasing Coral and Chasing Ice. Chasing Coral received the US Documentary Audience Award at Sundance in 2017. Chasing Ice received the Documentary Cinematography award at Sundance in 2012 and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Both films were shortlisted for an Academy Award for Best Documentary, screened at Congress and the United Nations, and have garnered awards and accolades from film festivals around the globe. Jeff founded Exposure Labs, a production company dedicated to impact through film. His latest film, The Social Dilemma, had its world...
2021-03-181h 00
Biosphere 2 PodcastThe Aquarium of the World: Sea of Cortez - Rick BruscaIn this episode we are joined by marine biologist and invertebrate zoologist Rick Brusca. Rick is Executive Director, Emeritus, of the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum where he still conducts research. He is also a Research Scientist at the University of Arizona and the Center of Research for Food and Development in Mexico. Rick is the author of over 200 research publications and 20 books, including the largest-selling text on invertebrate zoology (Invertebrates 3rd ed., ) and the popular field guides Common Intertidal Invertebrates of the Gulf of California and A Natural History of the Santa Catalina Mountains. As a scientist, Rick's areas of greatest i...
2021-03-0259 min
Biosphere 2 PodcastOSIRIS REx Mission - Heather EnosIn September of 2016, a NASA spacecraft known as OSIRIS REx began its journey to the near Earth asteroid Bennu, an ancient asteroid believed to be a remnant from the dawn of the solar system. Late last year, OSIRIS REx successfully collected and stored a surface sample from Bennu completing one more of several successful mission objectives on its journey. In this episode we are joined by Heather Enos, the Deputy Principal Investigator for the OSIRIS REx mission. Heather Enos has a long history in project management with University of Arizona space missions. Before OSIRIS REx, she was previously Project Manager for...
2021-02-181h 07
Biosphere 2 PodcastIcon of Possibilities - Executive Director Dr. Joaquin RuizIn this episode, we are joined by the Executive Director of Biosphere 2, Dr. Joaquin Ruiz. Joaquin is the Vice President of Global Environmental Futures at the University of Arizona where he was previously the Dean of the College of Science for nearly 20 years. Joaquin is a distinguished Thomas R. Brown chair Professor of Geochemistry in the department of Geosciences. He is a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and was named a National Researcher by the Mexican government in 2010. In 2018, the Mexican Secretary of State named Dr. Ruiz one of forty distinguished Mexican citizens living abroad who have brought d...
2021-01-2146 min
Biosphere 2 PodcastInterrogating Our "Better" Futures - Dr. Alexandra Daisy GinsbergIn this episode, we are joined by Dr. Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg. Daisy is an artist examining our fraught relationships with nature and technology. Through artworks, writing, and curatorial projects, Daisy's work explores subjects as diverse as artificial intelligence, exobiology, synthetic biology, conservation, biodiversity, and evolution, as she investigates the human impulse to "better" the world. Daisy has spent over ten years experimentally engaging with the field of synthetic biology, developing new roles for artists and designers. She is lead author of Synthetic Aesthetics: Investigating Synthetic Biology's Designs on Nature (MIT Press, 2014), and in 2017 completed Better, her PhD by practice, at London's Ro...
2020-12-311h 14
Biosphere 2 PodcastPlanting the Biosphere - Linda LeighIn this episode we are joined by systems ecologist and original Biospherian Dr. Linda Leigh. Linda was one of the eight crew members living inside the closed system here at Biosphere 2 during the first mission. Before her time inside Biosphere 2, Linda worked as the Biome Design Coordinator during the building phase, where she assisted in collecting plant species from around the world that would be added to the Biosphere 2 biomes like the Tropical Rain Forest, Fog Desert, and Savannah. Following Biosphere 2, Linda went on to study with systems ecologist H.T. Odum, where she deepened her expertise in ecological systems...
2020-12-2454 min
Biosphere 2 PodcastJaguars in Arizona - Dr. Melanie Culver & Susan MalusaIn this episode, we are joined by Dr. Melanie Culver & Susan Malusa. Dr. Melanie Culver is a geneticist and an Assistant Professor of Wildlife and Fisheries Science at the University of Arizona School of Natural Resources. She is an Assistant Leader of the USGS Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and her genetic work studies a variety of species including jaguars, pumas, black bears, bighorn sheep, raptors, herps, and freshwater mussels, among others. Susan Malusa is a Research Specialist for the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Arizona. She is the co-coordinator (along with Me...
2020-11-191h 13
Biosphere 2 PodcastAgave Spirits: Mezcal Production and Cultural History - Doug SmithIn this episode we are joined by Anthropologist turned coffee & mezcal Entrepreneur Doug Smith. Doug is the co-owner of the Exo Roast Company and the El Crisol Mezcal Bar in Tucson, AZ. Doug earned a Ph.D. in Cultural and Social Anthropology from Stanford University, conducting major investigations into agricultural history in several states in Mexico. He taught Anthropology for ten years in several universities, finishing as an Associate Professor at Western Oregon University before returning to Arizona in 2008 to begin Exo's coffee roastery. Doug's first experience with mezcal, during a fiesta patronal in a village in Guerrero, initiated a long e...
2020-10-281h 17
Biosphere 2 PodcastThank an Oceanographer - Dr. Joellen RussellIn this episode we are joined by Oceanographer and Geoscientist, Dr. Joellen Russell. Joellen is Professor and the Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Chair of Integrative Science at the University of Arizona Department of Geosciences. Joellen is the lead for the modeling team of the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling project (SOCCOM), a multi institutional program based at Princeton focused on unlocking the mysteries of the Southern Ocean. She serves as the Co-chair of the Science Advisory Board's Climate Working Group at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. Before joining the University of Arizona...
2020-10-051h 14
Biosphere 2 PodcastSynthetic World - Dr. Christina Agapakis In this episode we are joined by Dr. Christina Agapakis. Christina is a synthetic biologist, artist, and writer. She is the Creative Director of Gingko Bioworks, a boston based biotech company, and the Executive Editor of Grow Magazine, a magazine focused on the current endeavors, neglected histories, and collective futures in synthetic biology. As creative director, Christina engages with people, policies, and potential futures involved in synthetic biology, working for more open, equitable, and renewable technologies. In the lab, Christina has worked on enzymes involved in the production of biofuels, ecological design principles for synthetic biology, and the evolution of micr...
2020-09-2252 min
Biosphere 2 PodcastLord of the Tree Rings - Dr. Bryan BlackIn this episode we are joined by Dr. Bryan Black. Bryan is an associate professor at the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research at the University of Arizona. In his research, he applies techniques used in dendrochronology, the science of tree rings, to study the hard parts of marine and freshwater species like fish, clams, and corals. Similar to the study of tree rings, the patterns analyzed within select marine species, can be used for studying species productivity, age, and their relationships to climate throughout history. Bryan combines these data from across different species to describe linkages among marine, freshwater, a...
2020-09-1154 min
Biosphere 2 PodcastOcean in a Bottle - Katie Morgan & Dr. Diane ThompsonIn this episode we are joined by Katie Morgan and Dr. Diane Thompson. Katie Morgan is the Manager of Marine Systems and Education Initiatives at Biosphere 2. She oversees the operations of the Biosphere 2 Ocean, assists in developing the vision and project plan for the coral reef research initiative, and keeps the new coral species at Biosphere 2 alive and thriving. Katie is headed to James Cook University in Australia early next year to continue her journey as a coral reef biologist. Dr. Diane Thompson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Arizona, and the Director of...
2020-08-2854 min
Biosphere 2 PodcastOur Inner Universe - Drew BerryIn this episode, we are joined by Biomedical Animator Drew Berry. Drew creates beautiful, accurate visualizations of the dramatic cellular and molecular action that is going on inside our bodies. Beginning his career as a cell biologist, Drew's raw materials are technical reports, research data and models from scientific journals. As an artist he works as a translator, from abstract and complicated scientific concepts into vivid and meaningful visual journeys. Since 1995 he has been a biomedical animator at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia. His animations have been exhibited at venues such as the Guggenheim...
2020-08-1551 min
Biosphere 2 PodcastBiospherians - Jane Poynter & Taber MacCallumIn this episode we are joined by former Biospherians turned Space Industry Entrepreneurs Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum. Jane and Taber are the Founders and co-CEO's of Space Perspective, a company developing balloon powered human-spaceflight to the Earths stratosphere. Jane & Taber were both members of the Biosphere 2 design team and members of the original Biosphere 2 crew who lived for two years inside the sealed, self-sustaining habitat. Before Space Perspective, Jane & Taber co-founded World View Enterprises, the Silicon Valley-backed stratosphere balloon technology company. They also co-founded Paragon Space Development Corporation, the Human Life Support Systems company that has produced patented technologies o...
2020-08-0757 min
Biosphere 2 PodcastHidden Water - Ben Johnson & Dr. Ben WilderIn this episode, we are joined by Ben Johnson and Dr. Ben Wilder. Ben Johnson is a Tucson based visual artist and curator whose photo-realistic paintings have been featured in galleries worldwide. Dr. Ben Wilder is a Tucson based botanist & desert ecologist. He is the director of the Tumamoc Hill Desert Laboratory & the Director of the Next Generation Sonoran Desert Researchers. Ben Johnson and Dr. Ben Wilder have spent the last several years traveling to Sonora, Mexico to study and catalogue one of the Sonoran Desert's most intriguing phenomenon, the Pozos of the Grand Desierto. The pozos are ancient fresh w...
2020-07-211h 07
Biosphere 2 PodcastDisease, Climate, & Covid-19 with Dr. Kacey ErnstToday we are joined by infectious disease epidemiologist Dr. Kacey Ernst. In this conversation we cover the spread, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases like COVID 19. Dr. Ernst is an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Arizona. Her primary projects examine how ecological and social changes impact the transmission of infectious diseases like dengue, malaria, and now COVID-19. Local AZ Covid-19 Response App designed by Kacey & team: azcovidtxt.org/
2020-07-0651 min
Biosphere 2 PodcastLegacy of Biosphere 2 with Deputy Director John AdamsEach episode we feature in depth interviews with scientists, authors, engineers, entrepreneurs, artists and policy makers exploring the threads between Earth, its living systems, and our place in the Universe. In this interview, John Adams, Deputy Director of Biosphere 2, speaks on the legacy of the Biosphere 2 facility as both an unparalleled Earth Systems research facility and as a stand alone feat in architecture and engineering.
2020-07-061h 04