Biosphere 2 Podcast

About Biosphere 2 Podcast

Each 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.

Publisher

Aaron Bugaj

Category

science · science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 Jul 2020

Latest episode

2 Dec 2024

Latest episodes

3 of 26 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   2 Dec 2024TRANSCRIPT

   #026: The Worlds Hottest Rainforest - Dr. Joost Van Haren

   Dr. Joost Van Haren, Biosphere 2 research director, explores rainforest ecosystem responses to climate change, including carbon and water cycling, temperature limits, and drought effects, in this interview.

2. 

   23 May 2024TRANSCRIPT

   #025: Coral Reef Arks - Dr. Forest Rhower, Dr. Breeann Kirby, and Dr. Ty Roach

   Today 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. These are Coral Reef Arks. The Arks were conceived to address a global need for developing new technologies that will help mitigate widespread coral reef degradation. Two years ago, arks were deployed in Curacao, Puerto Rico, and San Diego. The Desert Arks Meeting served as a meeting place to check in on the progress of the Arks, to learn from failed hypothesis, and to iterate on design and technology of the Ark systems. In this episode, we talk about the success of the Desert Arks conference and how artists play a valuable role in facilitating research. Further, we discuss the arks in-depth, debriefing some of the highlights of the Arks Meeting, and asking more questions about the best way to move the research forward. About our guests: Doctor Forest Rohwer is a microbial ecologist and Professor of Biology at San Diego State University. His particular interests include coral reef microbial ecology and viruses as both evolutionary agents and opportunistic pathogens in various environments. Being a marine microbial ecologist, Dr. Forest Rohwer sees a coral reef as a finely-tuned community in which the microbes and viruses are major players. Recognizing their importance, he pioneered the use of metagenomics as a means to characterize these previously inscrutable organisms and to investigate their role in coral reef health and disease. Doctor Breeann Kyte Kirby is a research scientist turned creative writer. She works in both fields, facilitating interdisciplinary collaborations between artists, scientists, and thinkers. Dr. Kirby is a professor of creative writing and environmental studies at Point Loma Nazarene University. There she designed and heads the interdisciplinary humanities based environmental studies program. Her current books examine how to convey complex science accurately in engaging fiction. Doctor Ty Roach 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 Information Institute at San Diego State University. Ty, Forest, and Breeann are co-authoring a book on the positive roles of viruses and bacteria in human and ecological health that will be coming out this year.

3. 

   28 Oct 2023TRANSCRIPT

   #024: The Surfing Scientist - Dr. Ty Roach

   In 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 Information Institute at San Diego State University. Additionally, he is co-authoring a book with Drs Forest Rohwer and Breeann Kirby on the positive roles of viruses and bacteria in human and ecological health that will be coming out next year. As a competitive surfer, Ty has won two National championships and four consecutive East Coast Longboard championships, along with numerous professional level surfing titles. As a Division 1 wrestler, Ty was named a two-time Academic All-Conference athlete, an Academic All-American, and was presented the North Carolina State Top Scholar Athlete Award four times. In this episode, Ty shares his experience at Biosphere 2 and reflects upon his journey as a molecular biologist exploring the frontiers of viruses and bacteriophages in coral reef environments all over the world. We cover many topics, including: the Biosphere 2 Ocean, coral reef resilience, viruses, Ty’s unconventional career path, professional surfing, designing surfboards, biophysics, phage therapy, and coral reef restoration, among other topics. Without further ado, here is Dr. Ty Roach. Thank you for listening to the Biosphere 2 Podcast. I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Dr. Ty Roach. You can follow his surfing and science on social media @smokinroachjr This episode was co-produced by Keelin Joy Connely. As always thank you for listening to the Biosphere 2 podcast.

Inside a recent episode

#026: The Worlds Hottest Rainforest - Dr. Joost Van Haren

Published 2 Dec 2024 · Transcript excerpt

[…] So with that we could actually then measure, for instance, the isoprene coming off or the amount of terpenes coming off from the leaves and see that carbon -13 signal in there or not. And that then told us whether they're making use of that carbon dioxide that is fixed, at that moment, or whether it was fixed that day before, taken up. Then what we did is, because that carbon, some of that carbon is used to make those gases, but some of that carbon is used to make sugars that then are transported down the stem and then goes into the root. And then we also measured the stems, the amount of carbon dioxide coming off of that and then see whether we saw a pulse of that carbon -13 coming out, and we did. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

13 ratings

Spotify

4.7 / 5

7 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

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