Tyler Volk

Recognized under Tier 6 — Food Production & Space Agriculture, Tyler Volk conducts research in biogeochemistry and Earth system science with direct relevance to the design of closed-loop life support systems at New York University. Volk's work on the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and other biogeochemical elements in Earth's biosphere — and conceptual frameworks for understanding how biological and geological systems interact to maintain planetary habitability — provides a scientific perspective essential to designing self-sustaining bioregenerative life support systems for Mars habitats. Closing the elemental loops of a Mars colony's food and atmosphere system is fundamentally a biogeochemical engineering challenge, and Volk's research has contributed to the science behind it.