Team Biography
Jacques Edouard Chirazi
Master in Biomimicry, Certified Biomimicry Professional, Founder
Jacques focus is creating economic growth while fostering sustainability, in part by bridging cleantech with biomimicry. To that aim, he develops and supports a clean technology cluster in San Diego while collaborating across a diverse range of private, public, and non-profit sector groups. His long term vision is to create new business models and financial instruments to accelerate the commercialization of biomimetic solutions.
Jacques has managed the California City of San Diego’s Clean Technology Program since 2007. He served six years as Senior Project Manager at Bainbridge Inc., a strategic management consulting firm for Fortune 500 companies. He currently teaches sustainability and clean technology to business students at the University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University. He holds a Masters from UCSD Graduate School of International Relations & Pacific Studies in International Environmental Policy and a BA in Marketing from SDSU. Jacques is a certified Energy Manager (C.E.M.), Renewable Energy Professional (R.E.P.), and LEED-GA.
Nan Woodman
Master in Biomimicry, Certified Biomimicry Professional, Naturalist
Nan is a naturalist, designer, artist, creative thinker, and entrepreneur. She is an author/illustrator for National Geographic Trade and Schoolbook divisions, and a team member on numerous scientific expeditions. Nan provides biomimicry consulting for Fortune 500 companies, and is a contracted Biologist at the Design Table for Biomimicry 3.8. A co-developer of the powerful Biominga Toolkit for Accelerated Innovation, Nan leverages deep strengths in innovative ideation, biology, and strategic thinking. She has given over 700 presentations, in the US and internationally, including a keynote address at Chicago Academy of Sciences, and was a biomimicry co-presentor at Bioneers on Whidbey Island. She is a sustainability consultant for schools and is certified in permaculture and low-impact development. Her passionate and knowledgeable education and innovation workshops connect with audiences on every level. Nan holds a BA from University of Illinois (Design & Communications), and attended The School of the Chicago Art Institute and IIT (Illinois Institute of Technology) for Masters work. She is a certified Low Impact Development Contractor/Consultant (Washington State University), Permaculture Design Consultant, and a graduate of the Biomimicry Professional Program.
Dr. Tamsin Woolley-Barker
Master in Biomimicry, Certified Biomimicry Professional, Evolutionary Biologist and Author
Dr. Tamsin Woolley-Barker is an Evolutionary Biologist and Biomimicry consultant, and the author of TEEMING: How Superorganisms Work to Build Infinite Wealth in a Finite World. Tamsin has served as an independent Biologist at the Design Table for nearly a decade, working with organizations like Biomimicry 3.8 and the Biomimicry Institute to provide biologically inspired innovation to a Global 500 clientele, and writes extensively for magazines like GreenBiz and Triple Pundit. Her regular column, ‘The Biomimicry Manual’ appears on Inhabitat.com. She has served as Biological Strategy Editor for AskNature, and is an active and inaugural contributor at AskingNature, the Biomimicry Institute’s blog. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at Arizona State University’s new Biomimicry Center in the School of Life Sciences, and offers speaking engagements, workshops, corporate consulting, and content on biologically-inspired organizational design, product development, and leadership through her company, BioInspired Ink.
Lauren Linsmayer
Ph.D Candidate, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, Marine Biologist
Lauren's research focuses on the effects of ocean acidification on coral physiology, in order to build models for predicting coral reef health under future acidification. Her commitment to applying innovative, research-based solutions to environmental problems developed while earning her BS and MS at Stanford University's interdisciplinary earth sciences program. At SIO, Lauren is actively involved in interdisciplinary science outreach. She and a group of climate scientists, biologists, ecologists, and political scientists at UCSD founded an organization called Ocean Scientists for Informed Policy (http://oceanscientists.org), whose aim is to communicate climate science effectively to the public and policymakers.
Leon Wang
Certified Biomimicry Professional Candidate
Leon works as a Biomimicry Storyteller to help share biomimicry and its inspiring stories with the world through long-form storytelling and contributions to a broader social engagement strategy. His communications showcase biomimicry innovations, projects, and design or research teams, and can be seen published on AskNature.org, The Biomimicry Center’s website and appropriate social channels.
Leon is a student in the inaugural class of ASU’s Biomimicry Masters Program. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego in 2015 with a B.S. in Bioengineering and a minor in environmental studies. While at UCSD, he worked in McKittrick's Lab, focusing on bio-inspired research, specifically flexible robotics inspired by seahorse tail and composite materials that mimic bone and nacre. He has also been involved in many biomimicry projects and initiatives. In AskNature’s pilot program, he contributed content as a biological curator and helped improve the tool and community. He also volunteered at the Centre for Bioinspiration at San Diego Zoo Global to collect and decipher engineering-to-biology ontology research. He continues to stay involved by writing biomimicry finance reports and case studies for the Biomimicry Business Intelligence initiative. Leon aims to apply his knowledge and skill-set to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to our most pressing global challenges. He will continue to spread the knowledge and inspiration of biomimicry wherever he goes.
Dr. Puja Batra
Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Puja Batra, Ph.D. is an ecologist who uses integrated approaches to solve problems of sustainable development, bringing together science, markets, policy, and innovation to stem the loss of healthy ecosystems. She has worked in several countries across three continents with a work portfolio that cuts across some of the planet’s most urgent and interrelated issues: biodiversity loss, natural resource degradation, local economies, food security, and climate change. She became involved in biomimicry through a Biologist at the Design Table course in 2007, and has since incorporated it into her portfolio of problem solving tools and design thinking. Puja holds a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Michigan State University, and a B.A. in Biology from University of Texas.
Patricia Fernandez-Waid
Master in Marine Environment and Resources
Patricia is a master’s student studying marine environment and resources in a joint European university program led by the University of the Basque Country in Spain. She completed her bachelor’s degree in marine biology at UC San Diego while interning at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in bioacoustics and shark electrophysiology labs. Her passion for the ocean stems from a young age growing up on the desolate beaches of Baja California. She also has a particular affinity for education and public speaking, and feels strongly about its importance in encouraging communities to admire and conserve their environment. Recently she developed an interest in combining marine biology and engineering. Her master’s thesis involves studying Mako shark dermal denticle morphology for hydrodynamic purposes, principally for its application to ships to lower fuel expenditure.
Her current program involves studying and attending conferences at various universities throughout Europe, allowing for the opportunity to share ideas and connect with professionals from around the globe. She strongly believes that studying the marine environment and its functional (and sustainable) application to our everyday lives is vital for the future!
Jamie Hoff
Bachelor in Business Administration, Energy Auditor
I am a business professional focused on creating sustainable solutions for manmade problems. In 2014, I founded a healthcare consulting company aimed to solve a significant issue existing in medical centers around the nation. We provided our clients with a customizable solution to properly segregate and dispose of medical waste that is produced daily in their clinics. Our sustainable solution not only solved the problem, but it achieved environmental stewardship in doing so.
I am currently progressing with my next business venture focused on advancing our quality of life through the improvement of indoor environments. This is quite the gear shift from my previous venture so I've spent the last several months actively seeking educational and research opportunities to better familiarize myself with the field
Dr. Bor-Kai Hsiung
Certified Biomimicry Specialist, Ph.D. in Integrated Bioscience, Postdoctoral Scholar at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
Bor-Kai (Bill) is among the first cohort who recently received their Ph.D. degree from the Biomimicry Fellowship Program at the Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio. As a Biomimicry Fellow, Bor-Kai worked with many sponsor companies (including Fortune 500 companies) who participated in the program, bringing biomimicry into their R&D processes in the hope for igniting sustainably innovations within these companies. Currently, Bor-Kai is a postdoc in Dr. Deheyn’s lab at SIO, UC San Diego, working on a research project sponsored by DARPA to investigate whether or not organisms can communicate with each other via radio frequency without the use of human technology. Other than research, Bor-Kai also involves in two biomimicry startups and serves as the Chief Science Officer at Hedgemon, LLC. The mission of Hedgemon is to develop an impact-absorbing platform technology inspired by hedgehogs that could improve human lives. Bor-Kai is also passionate about disseminating science and biomimicry to the local communities and frequently participates in outreach events. His Ph.D. research investigated the color production mechanisms in spiders and their biomimicry potential has been recognized around the world – reported and shared among 23 different countries in 14 different languages, including BBC, National Geographic and The Atlantic, even got featured in an exhibition “Take a Nanooze Break” at EPCOT Walt Disney World, FL, USA.