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 recognition from the World Economic Forum and UAE’s Future 100), Rana brings a sharp, systems-level perspective to what circularity can look like in practice. From industrial symbiosis to resource sovereignty, she breaks down how we can redesign our networks the way nature does: with efficiency, reciprocity, and resilience at the core. Tune in for a compelling conversation about what’s possible when we rethink how we share.Learn more about The Surpluss. Note: Host Lily Urmann is welcoming the newest biomimic in January, and will be on maternity leave until June 2026. Grab some Learning from Nature merch including shirts and sweatshirts.If you want to begin your own learning from nature journey, take a course from Learn Biomimicry. Gain the skills to apply 3.8 billion years of research and development to your business, projects, and daily life.Listeners can save 20% on the Biomimicry Short Course Set, and 10% on the Biomimicry Practitioner and Educator Program with code LEARNINGFROMNATURE or by visiting this link.Thank you Pine Peak Productions for helping to evolve Learning from Nature to the next level! 

How might emergent strategies of group dynamics in nature inform our own technology and design?In this episode, Dr. Iain Couzin, Director of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and one of the world’s leading researchers on collective motion in animals, explores how nature’s systems -- from swarming locusts and murmurations of starlings to schooling fish -- coordinate complex group behaviors without centralized control, and what these patterns can teach us about designing human systems that are more adaptive, resilient, and cooperative. Dr. Couzin shares insights from decades of research on how simple rules at the individual level can create intelligent, emergent behaviors at scale; offering powerful inspiration for rethinking collaboration, innovation, and decision-making in our own organizations and societies.This Critical Mast episode is part of a community podcasting experiment on the phenomenon of masting— when trees mysteriously synchronize to produce massive seed crops all at once. In my conversation with Dr. Couzin, we will look beyond the forest to another kind of synchronization: the elegant intelligence of swarming life. Listen to the other episodes below or available on the Spotify Playlist here.Outside/InFuture EcologiesGolden State Naturalist Jumpstart NatureNature's ArchiveGrab some Learning from Nature merch including shirts and sweatshirts.If you want to begin your own learning from nature journey, take a course from Learn Biomimicry. Gain the skills to apply 3.8 billion years of research and development to your business, projects, and daily life.Listeners can save 20% on the Biomimicry Short Course Set, and 10% on the Biomimicry Practitioner and Educator Program with code LEARNINGFROMNATURE or by visiting this link.Thank you Pine Peak Productions for helping to evolve Learning from Nature to the next level! 

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 of Biomimicry in Architecture (3rd edition) here. Learn more about Michael Pawlyn and Exploration Architecture here. Purchase tickets for the Biomimicry Confluence on October 22nd and 23rd here.Grab some Learning from Nature merch including shirts and sweatshirts.If you want to begin your own learning from nature journey, take a course from Learn Biomimicry. Gain the skills to apply 3.8 billion years of research and development to your business, projects, and daily life.Listeners can save 20% on the Biomimicry Short Course Set, and 10% on the Biomimicry Practitioner and Educator Program with code LEARNINGFROMNATURE or by visiting this link.Thank you Pine Peak Productions for helping to evolve Learning from Nature to the next level! 

Many of us are familiar with applying nature's genius to physical products or the built environment, but we can also integrate this practice into visual design fields and processes. Michelle Fehler, a professor in The Design School at Arizona State University, dives into her approach for reconnecting with nature and sharing practices rooted in biomimicry within the visual communication space. In this conversation we discuss feedback loops, teaching methodologies, and what it looks like to move beyond only designing for the user to designing for nature -- which in turn includes humans. When nature is at the design table, we can address wicked problems with time-tested strategies from life all around us. Purchase the Biomimicry in Graphic Design Card Set or Nature-Based Design Decisions: A Brainstorm and Evaluation Tool.View other resources from Michelle. Learn more about ASU biomimicry programs. Grab some Learning from Nature merch including shirts and sweatshirts.If you want to begin your own learning from nature journey, take a course from Learn Biomimicry. Gain the skills to apply 3.8 billion years of research and development to your business, projects, and daily life.Listeners can save 20% on the Biomimicry Short Course Set, and 10% on the Biomimicry Practitioner and Educator Program with code LEARNINGFROMNATURE or by visiting this link.Thank you Pine Peak Productions for helping to evolve Learning from Nature to the next level! 

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 going deeper. Explore Learn Biomimicry offerings and pathways. Grab some Learning from Nature merch including shirts and sweatshirts.If you want to begin your own learning from nature journey, take a course from Learn Biomimicry. Gain the skills to apply 3.8 billion years of research and development to your business, projects, and daily life.Listeners can save 20% on the Biomimicry Short Course Set, and 10% on the Biomimicry Practitioner and Educator Program with code LEARNINGFROMNATURE or by visiting this link.Thank you Pine Peak Productions for helping to evolve Learning from Nature to the next level! 

Humans are a very young species. Compared to the other organisms that we share this planet with, we are novices in how to live in harmony here. Mimicking nature’s elegant and efficient structures on the micro and nano-scale has been a major limiting factor in our designs. But we are making progress in learning from nature’s structure and chemistry. Doing reactions at ambient temperature and pressure with nontoxic materials is still mostly an aspiration for us; but nature can lead the way. Andrew Meador explores the momentum of different biomimicry applications on the chemical and physical level, and we discuss some mind-blowing examples of how organisms leverage chemistry in their habitat. Connect with Andrew Meador on LinkedIn.Watch Andrew's TEDx talk on biomimicry and birds.Grab some Learning from Nature merch including shirts and sweatshirts.If you want to begin your own learning from nature journey, take a course from Learn Biomimicry. Gain the skills to apply 3.8 billion years of research and development to your business, projects, and daily life.Listeners can save 20% on the Biomimicry Short Course Set, and 10% on the Biomimicry Practitioner and Educator Program with code LEARNINGFROMNATURE or by visiting this link.Thank you Pine Peak Productions for helping to evolve Learning from Nature to the next level! 

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 life and encourages you to begin recording and reflecting. Nature journaling is especially important for biomimicry: this practice can help to shift perspectives and offers new inspiration!  "A world of infinite beauty and discovery waits just beyond the point where we usually stop paying attention" (John Muir Laws).Learn more about John Muir Laws, and purchase his books. Join the Wild Wonder Foundation nature journaling movement. Get a nature journaling for biomimicry book (iSites).Grab some Learning from Nature merch including shirts and sweatshirts.If you want to begin your own learning from nature journey, take a course from Learn Biomimicry. Gain the skills to apply 3.8 billion years of research and development to your business, projects, and daily life.Listeners can save 20% on the Biomimicry Short Course Set, and 10% on the Biomimicry Practitioner and Educator Program with code LEARNINGFROMNATURE or by visiting this link.Thank you Pine Peak Productions for helping to evolve Learning from Nature to the next level! 

The Biomimicry Institute's Launchpad program supports scientists and designers who are addressing some of our biggest challenges with nature-inspired ideas. Every year, a cohort of innovators from around the world comes together to learn from each other and receive guidance and inspiration through mentoring, networking, and community-building. Dave Hutchins is the Launchpad Program Manager and dives into what it takes to get a biomimetic product to the next stage and the pathways that The Biomimicry Institute offers for folks who are in this space. Dave is an engineer, entrepreneur, creator, and educator who is passionate about expanding and deepening the biomimicry ecosystem. Whether you are pursuing a project or just want to peek behind the curtain, listen in for some motivation and a good dose of hope!  Explore The Launchpad.Learn more about The Biomimicry Institute.Grab some Learning from Nature merch including shirts and sweatshirts.If you want to begin your own learning from nature journey, take a course from Learn Biomimicry. Gain the skills to apply 3.8 billion years of research and development to your business, projects, and daily life.Listeners can save 20% on the Biomimicry Short Course Set, and 10% on the Biomimicry Practitioner and Educator Program with code LEARNINGFROMNATURE or by visiting this link.Thank you Pine Peak Productions for helping to evolve Learning from Nature to the next level! 

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 MycoFOAM. Imagine a world where we can safely break down harmful materials, or eliminate the need for those materials in the first place. This impactful bio-inspired company is showing what's possible on the pathway to a truly regenerative future. Explore Mycocycle.Reach the TechCrunch article.Grab some Learning from Nature merch including shirts and sweatshirts.If you want to begin your own learning from nature journey, take a course from Learn Biomimicry. Gain the skills to apply 3.8 billion years of research and development to your business, projects, and daily life.Listeners can save 20% on the Biomimicry Short Course Set, and 10% on the Biomimicry Practitioner and Educator Program with code LEARNINGFROMNATURE or by visiting this link.Thank you Pine Peak Productions for helping to evolve Learning from Nature to the next level! 

Our coastlines are crucial buffer zones for climate chaos. Yet the current building strategies for concrete coastal marine construction can lead to low biodiversity, which impacts ecosystem health and water quality. ECOncrete's technology involves texture agents and molds that increase biological performance by creating a macro-surface that encourages organisms to colonize. This innovative company has implemented more than a dozen large-scale projects globally and is expanding rapidly as demand increases. By turning to nature for inspiration, we can adapt to the changing climate while also benefiting marine ecosystems globally. Explore ECOncreteGrab some Learning from Nature merch including shirts and sweatshirts.If you want to begin your own learning from nature journey, take a course from Learn Biomimicry. Gain the skills to apply 3.8 billion years of research and development to your business, projects, and daily life.Listeners can save 20% on the Biomimicry Short Course Set, and 10% on the Biomimicry Practitioner and Educator Program with code LEARNINGFROMNATURE or by visiting this link.Thank you Pine Peak Productions for helping to evolve Learning from Nature to the next level!