#013: Interrogating Our "Better" Futures - Dr. Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg

12/31/20 • 74 min

In 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 Royal College of Art (RCA), interrogating how powerful dreams of “better” futures shape the things that get designed. Daisy studied architecture at the University of Cambridge, was a visiting scholar at Harvard University, and received her MA in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art. Daisy won the World Technology Award for design in 2011, the London Design Medal for Emerging Talent in 2012, and the Dezeen Changemaker Award 2019. Her work has twice been nominated for Designs of the Year (2011, 2015). Daisy exhibits internationally, including at MoMA New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, the National Museum of China, and the Royal Academy. Daisy is a resident at Somerset House Studios in London, and is working on a major new commission for the Eden Project for 2021. I highly encourage you to check out Daisy's website linked in the show notes BEFORE listening to the podcast. We refer to a number of her works by title, and do our best to describe each project in depth for our listeners, but her work is best appreciated through the visual medium. https://www.daisyginsberg.com/work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEeBeEfGoYU&t=3893s

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#012: Planting the Biosphere - Linda Leigh

In 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. Linda is now the co-owner of the Vermillion Wormery and the Oracle Community Garden, right here in Oracle, AZ. In this episode, we learn about Linda's early years, how she joined the Biosphere 2 team, and how she and a group of science specialists came together to design and build entire ecosystems. Linda shares her own experiences and challenges from life on the inside of Biosphere 2 and shares with us how Biosphere 2 has had an impact on the rest of her life.

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#014: Icon of Possibilities - Executive Director Dr. Joaquin Ruiz

In 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 distinction to the country. As a scientist with equal abilities in chemistry and in geology, Dr. Ruiz has addressed many first-order problems in the Earth Sciences, such as the development of new isotope systems for studying ore deposits and the tectonic processes involved in the growth and evolution of Mexico. His research teams address problems ranging from the origins of life to present-day climate change. In this episode, we discuss Joaquin's origins as a scientist, his career in geochemistry, and the legacy and impact of Biosphere 2 as in Icon of Possibilities in Global Climate Change Solutions.