We are joined by Morgan and Lee Grant Irons for a discussion of everything you wanted to know about the intricacies of terraforming and more.

Morgan is a Soil and Crop Sciences Ph.D. candidate in the Lehmann Lab at Cornell University, where her research focuses on microbial-adhesion mechanisms and organo-mineral, organo-organic interactions in soil aggregates and their effects on soil organic carbon sequestration under Earth gravity and microgravity.

Lee Grant Irons is a scientist and engineer, with experience in the fields and industries of space plasma and computational physics, nuclear power design and operations, radioactive and hazardous waste management, environmental remediation, and large-scale engineering and construction projects. As the Executive Director of the non-profit Norfolk Institute, he is working on the existential challenges of human sustainability on Earth and in space.

In part 1 of our interview, we’ll get acquainted with these researchers, define what terraforming is—and which planets Morgan and Lee would choose to terraform first,

And then discuss recent experiments Morgan sent up on the International Space Station and on a suborbital Blue Origin spaceflight.

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Additional links of interest related to our interview with Morgan and Lee Grant Irons:

Link to the paper referred to during the interview: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fspas.2021.789563/abstract

Morgan's social media where you can follow her research:

Instagram: astroecologist

Twitter: @Astroeco_Morgan

Facebook: www.facebook.com/astroeco.morgan/

Research Gate profile links for even more supplemental material related to the podcast:

www.researchgate.net/profile/Lee-Irons

www.researchgate.net/profile/Morgan-Irons

Norfolk Institute: www.norfolkinstitute.org