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Further Together the ORAU PodcastAuthor: ORAU
Join your host Michael Holtz as he discuss all things ORAU, through interviews with our experts who provide innovative scientific and technical solutions for our customers. Michael and his guests will talk about ORAUs storied history, how were impacting an ever-changing world, as well as our commitment to our community. Language: en-us Genres: Government, Natural Sciences, Science Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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Harnessing plant biology for deep space exploration: Luke Fountain, Ph.D., NASA NPP Fellow, returns to the podcast
Episode 27
Wednesday, 17 December, 2025
Luke Fountain, Ph.D., who is in the third year of his NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship, makes a return to Further Together because of a recently published paper he co-authored on plant biology and space exploration. His research focus is figuring out how to grow plants in space to help enable future deep exploration. In this conversation, Fountain shares the challenges of plant biology in space, including the need to make growing systems self-sustaining. The paper he co-authored, published in the New Phytologist in November 2025, lays out a 12-point framework called the Bioregenerative Life Support System readiness level to assist in overcoming challenges to establish resilient, sustainable crop production. Fountain's paper, "Expanding frontiers: harnessing plant biology for space exploration and planetary sustainability," can be found here. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.70662. New Phytologist is a leading international journal focusing on high quality, original research across the broad spectrum of plant sciences, from intracellular processes through to global environmental change. The journal is owned by the New Phytologist Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of plant science. https://www.newphytologist.org/ ORAU manages the NASA Postdoctoral Program for the National Aeronautic and Space Administration. To learn more about the program, meet some of the Fellows, or apply to become a Fellow, visit https://npp.orau.org/index.html.
