Learning from Nature: The Biomimicry Podcast with Lily Urmann

In this episode, we dive into a surprising but essential topic for a life-friendly future: trade networks and resource sharing. Guest Rana Hajirasouli, circular-economy innovator and founder of the climate-tech startup The Surpluss, explains how nature’s systems can inspire smarter, more collaborative ways for industries to reduce waste, strengthen supply chains, and unlock new forms of value. With experience spanning marine conservation, international law, and manufacturing (as well as recog...

What does it look like for humans to align with life? The built environment and urban areas represent a massive opportunity to significantly lower emissions, improve biodiversity, and create healthier, more resilient communities through the application of regenerative design guided by nature. Architect Michael Pawlyn shares how we can access powerful leverage points within complex systems and find hope for a thriving, life-friendly future driven by the wisdom of the natural world. Get a copy ...

The world is ready for learning from nature to take off, but what does biomimicry really need in order to gain more traction on a larger scale? Listen in to our special live episode with Learn Biomimicry Managing Director Alistair Daynes to hear how we can continue to move the needle on integrating and expanding the biomimicry perspective in all spaces. Whether you are just starting out or further along in your journey, this episode contains advice from a seasoned mentor and guidelines for go...

Cultivating a curiosity for our world is the first step in repairing our relationship with place, the organisms that we share our planet with, and ourselves. This reconnecting is at the core of a crucial and life-changing practice called nature journaling. John Muir Laws is a leader and innovator in the world-wide nature journaling movement and shares his wealth of knowledge in a very special Learning from Nature episode. This conversation invites you to ponder the intricacies of everyday lif...

Humans view waste as a burden, but nature utilizes waste as a valuable resource in a cycle of continual renewal. The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates 600 million tons of construction and demolition debris is generated every year -- and Mycocycle knows this is an opportunity. Joanne Rodriguez discusses how Mycocycle leverages mycelium (fungal root structures) to consume and eliminate toxins from construction waste and produce raw building materials like MycoFILL, MycoFIBER, and Myc...

Globally, more than 1.6 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year -- and in India, 40% of produce goes to waste before it even reaches grocery store shelves. By learning from plant protection mechanisms, Deepak Rajmohan of GreenPod Labs has developed a solution: using natural plant extracts to activate those built-in defenses. The simple yet effective solution is a satchel that can be dropped into produce transportation to slow down the ripening rate and limit microbial growth. All at ambie...

It's on every continent, and in every terrestrial ecosystem. It's beneath our feet on most hikes and it's often overlooked: lichens! In this episode, Dr. Troy McMullin, the chief lichenologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, gives an insightful overview of what lichens are, describes their many interesting strategies, and shares why you should care. We dive into their unique symbiotic partnership, their range of amazing structures, and how they are an important part of our future here on Ea...

In the third episode of our limited series Knowledge Symbiosis: Can Biomimicry and Indigenous Science Harmonize?, PennElys Droz and Maibritt Pederson Zari engage in conversation hosted by Lily Urmann, exploring cosmologies, paradigm shifts and how to be in good relationship while we co-create and design as humans within creation. They outline principles of regenerative design in communities, and how we all might engage in decolonization as well as learn from Indigenous ecological relati...

In this inaugural episode of the limited series Knowledge Symbiosis: Can Biomimicry and Indigenous Science Harmonize?, Dayna Baumeister joins Melissa K. Nelson and Sara El-Sayed in a conversation exploring the common ground and mapping the divergences between Indigenous science and biomimicry. SERIES SYNOPSIS Biomimicry, nature-inspired design, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), or Indigenous Knowledge Systems, both have roots in nature and a deep respect for natural processes. How...

Many of us are either afraid of or avoid chemistry simply because of the way we were taught the topic in school. Yet chemistry is all around us: in the leaves of your backyard tree and the snail inching along the sidewalk. It's also a crucial component to the practice of biomimicry. In this episode, explore the topic of green chemistry with one of its founding members: Dr. John Warner. Nature runs on sunlight, breaks down products into benign constituents, builds selectively with a smal...

Our buildings use A LOT of energy to heat and cool, and because of this they contribute drastically to global carbon emissions. But what if we borrowed design inspiration from the amazing ability of squids to shift colors and control light in order to reduce or eliminate excess energy needs? In this episode with Raphael Kay, explore how these underwater creatures are so efficient and what strategies we can translate to our built environment. We also discuss why practicing meaningful biomimicr...

Honeycomb and the hexagon shape is very popular in the biomimicry design space, but what makes it efficient and resilient? In this episode, Dr. Clint Penick dives deep into the function of optimizing space and managing compression, as it relates to bee and wasp nests. There is so much more to the honeycomb shape than most people initially realize, and this conversation sheds light on some of the details behind this "genius" in the natural world. We also chat about urban ecology, social insect...

A relatively small, yet committed group of individuals CAN radically shift a system. But how do we get there? And what does that future look like? In this episode, join Jamie Miller, Director of Biomimicry at B+H Architects and President of Biomimicry Frontiers as he explains what this practice looks like in the application space, and how you too can help shape a collective and hopeful future. Jamie has almost two decades of leadership in this field and will share his insights on finding your...