098: Brilliant Planet - Harnessing the Power of Algae in the Desert with Dr. Raffael Jovine
A Sustainable Mind - environment & sustainability podcast
Marjorie Alexander
4.6 • 588 Ratings
🗓️ 26 July 2022
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Raffael Jovine trained in molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale, did his PhD in marine sciences at UC Santa Barbara, and completed research at MIT. In 2013, he founded and is now chief scientist of Brilliant Planet, a company that uses seawater, sunlight, and wind to grow food in coastal deserts, replicating algal blooms. He is married with five children and lives in London.
Today's Sponsors:
Tentree is an earth-first sustainable clothing company. Check out their selection of eco-friendly clothing and accessories at Tentree.com and use promo code 'ASM' for 15% off your first purchase.
Wondrium offers documentaries, series, lessons, how-to's, and more, on any topic you can imagine. Watch on any device and on the go! To get your FREE trial plus 20% off the annual plan go to Wondrium.com/ASM!
In this episode Marjorie and Raffael discuss:
- The ideal environment for algae to bloom
- How growing algae in the sand creates multiple opportunities for coastal desert communities
- The importance of partnerships when solving hyper-local climate challenges
- Dr. Jovine's new book How Light Makes Life: The Hidden Wonders and World-Saving Powers of Photosynthesis (publisher link)
Resources mentioned in today's episode:
- Rachel Carson
- Beatrice Sweeney
- Peter Wohlleben
- NASA Earth Observatory
- Race for Tomorrow: Survival, Innovation and Profit on the Front Lines of the Climate Crisis by Simon Mundy (affiliate link)
- Dune by Frank Herbert and backstory
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Connect with Raffael and the Brilliant Planet Team:
- Website: https://www.brilliantplanet.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raffael-jovine-3b109b235/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/brilliantplanet/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrillPlanet
Connect with Marjorie Alexander:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asustainablemind/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SustainableMind
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asustainablemind/
- Website: http://www.asustainablemind.com
Interested in sponsoring or supporting A Sustainable Mind? Visit our sponsorship page at ASustainableMind.com/sponsor!
*Some links on this page might be affiliate links and will help support ASM's efforts, and will not increase your purchase price.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | the very beginning of it all, I realized that they had a point that in the real world, in places where they aren't in the middle of the ocean, very few nutrients. |
| 0:11.0 | They're four and a half kilometers down from, you know, away from the bottom of the ocean, thousands of kilometers away from the shore, |
| 0:19.0 | in these very, very humble from a nutrient environment point of view. |
| 0:24.6 | And yet the photosynthetic organisms were working at nearly the theoretical maximum of photosynthesis. |
| 0:31.6 | And so I was thinking here I had been in the lab trying to improve on photosynthesis all this time, |
| 0:38.3 | and I never could have gotten to this degree of efficiency. |
| 0:42.3 | So there was something about the natural environment that was much more effective. |
| 0:47.3 | And that's sort of where the pivot came to looking more at natural system |
| 0:52.3 | and looking at the environment as a system as opposed to as individual molecules in a sense. |
| 1:00.0 | This is a sustainable mind where we delve into the minds behind today's most impactful environmental campaigns, organizations, and startups, inspiring the environmental change makers of tomorrow. |
| 1:22.7 | I'm your host, Marjorie Alexander. |
| 1:25.4 | Today's episode is brought to you by Tentree. Tensary offers an entire line |
| 1:30.5 | of earth-conscious, comfortable clothing, and they give back in the process. We'll be learning a bit |
| 1:36.4 | more about Tentree later on in the episode, but in the meantime, head on over to Tentree.com |
| 1:42.8 | and use the promo code, ASM,M at checkout for 15% off your first |
| 1:48.7 | order. Now, let's get into today's episode. Dr. Raphael Jovin trained in molecular |
| 1:55.8 | biophysics and biochemistry at Yale. He did his PhD in marine sciences at UC Santa Barbara and completed |
| 2:03.7 | research at MIT. In 2013, he founded and is now chief scientist of Brilliant Planet, a company that |
| 2:12.0 | uses seawater, sunlight, and wind to grow food in coastal deserts, replicating algal blooms. He is married with five |
| 2:20.3 | children and lives in London. So Dr. Jovin, how are you today? I am so happy to have you on. |
| 2:28.6 | This type of science is definitely in my realm of interest. So I'm really happy to have you today. |
| 2:34.2 | Yeah, thank you for having me. And it's wonderful to hear you and love the idea of a sustainable |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Marjorie Alexander, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Marjorie Alexander and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.