Biophysicist and systems thinker Dr. Rasheeda Hawk joins FutureKind to explore how our genes are shaped not just by DNA, but by the worlds we live in—internal and external, energetic and ancestral. From community gardens in South Central LA to breast cancer research at Caltech, Dr. Hawk brings a rare and powerful integration of scientific rigor, ancestral wisdom, and lived experience. In this conversation with host Megan Westgate, Dr. Hawk shares her journey into epigenetics and functional medicine, inviting us to consider how nourishment, nature, coherence, and time itself affect gene expression. This is a conversation about food, yes—but also about soil, stress, sunflowers, and the importance of being in right relationship with life. Timestamps [00:03:00] — What is epigenetics, really? How food, toxins, stress, and environment shape genetic expression [00:06:00] — The first science experiment: purifying water with rocks and intuition [00:08:00] —Early lessons in farming, healing, and anatomy on the family homestead [00:11:00] — Nature as refrigerator, compost pile, and collaborator: permaculture before it had a name [00:14:00] — Science as conversation: what corporate research forgets about curiosity [00:18:00] — Breast cancer genes and nanomolar mysteries: why some questions don’t get funded [00:21:00] — Centropy: the physics of wholeness in a world of disorder [00:25:00] — Functional medicine, orthomolecular science, and the legacies of Linus Pauling [00:31:00] — Processed food and the loss of time: how convenience became the default [00:36:00] — Nature, food, and the body: remembering our reciprocal relationship [00:38:00] — When the trees were cut down: urban ecology and the rise of disconnection [00:42:00] — Sunflowers for bioremediation, beauty, and belonging [00:46:00] — What Tanzania taught about time: waking with the sun and living in flow [00:50:00] — Time as relationship: what happens when we stop living by the clock [00:54:00] — Toward integration: parenting, work, and human wholeness Music Credits: Rise by Yaima from the album C E R E M O N I A Gaia Nectar by Masood Ali Khan from the album The Yoga Sessions, in collaboration with Yoga Organix Records Sign up for our newsletter, The Fullist, our weekly rundown of news and nourishment that brings a fresh perspective to food system transformation. To follow us on Instagram click HERE To connect with Megan Westgate click HERE
