Biosphere 2 Podcast Biosphere 2 University of Arizona

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.
 

Today 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 to engage in systems engineering projects around the world.
In our conversation, Bill reminisces on the construction and design phase of Biosphere 2, shedding light on his team's engineering triumphs and challenges in constructing the world’s largest closed system experiment. Without further ado, here is Bill Dempster.
 

In 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 years. The YDL platform was used extensively in Department of Energy, NASA, and University research across a full spectrum of sciences. Kai also designed and developed iConji, an icon-based language for international communication. Further, he wrote the machine learning algorithm Karoo GP which has been used at LIGO for classification of glitches and supernovae. Kai was principal designer of the Mt. Meru Astronomical Observatory in Tanzania, the first of its kind in East Africa. At Arizona State University Kai led the development of SIMOC, a research-grade computer simulation and educational interface hosted by National Geographic that enables citizen scientists to explore the complexity of a human habitat on Mars.
In this podcast, Kai takes us on his journey to build SAM. Breaking down the inspiration for SAM’s creation, and the research goals for SAM’s future.
 

In 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 as the climate gets warmer and drier.
 
Steve talks about micro-biomes, climate change, and how his lab group studies microbial communities in a variety of field sites across California with a focus on climate and drought. 
 
https://allisonlab.bio.uci.edu/

In 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 UC Santa Cruz where he studied the ecological and physiological history of bivalves.
 
In this episode, Dan takes us deep into world of Giant Clam research-- revealing a wide array of fascinating facts about these overshadowed bivalves found within Coral Reefs. Further, Dan tells us why the Biosphere 2 Ocean is a great place to study clams, he explains his past research studying Clams in the Red Sea, and he guides us through the life history and symbiosis of Giant Clams.
 
https://dantheclamman.blog/

In 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 oceanographic context play in the fisheries dynamics and general functioning of coral reef ecosystems. The work in the Pacific has led to the development of the 100 Island Challenge research campaign.
 
In this episode, Stuart and I discuss what Caribbean reefs used to look like and why they've changed.  Further, we explore how Stuarts Lab is using structure from motion technology to map out reefs systems over time. We broach the topics of self organization, resilience, evolutionary succession, and technology driven ecological research.
 
Learn more about this project at 100IslandChallenge.org.
https://sandinlab.ucsd.edu/