On today’s episode, we’ll begin a special series that follows a month-long algae diet experiment with Founder of Spira, Elliot Roth, to explore the viability of algae as a food source in space. We’ll be following his journey from beginning to end, while helping to document reactions, findings, and even the emotions that come with committing to a space-age diet.

Elliot is the Founder of Spira, a company that engineers algae for sustainable, healthier, and cost-effective industry applications. After being trained as a University Innovation Fellow at the Stanford d.School, Elliot started multiple entrepreneurial projects including the DIYbio lab, Indie Lab, TEDxVCU and 6 other startups. Elliot graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in Biomedical Engineering where he actually lived off algae and learned about the many benefits of this incredible plant!

After University, he spent five years consulting in product design and business strategy before starting Spira. Elliot is a Kairos Fellow, a Seasteading Ambassador, a member of the TFF NextGen Council and sits on the Virginia Governor’s Council for Youth Entrepreneurship. Elliot is passionate about solving social and environmental problems in manufacturing and has spoken at Synbiobeta, SXSW, and Thought for Food on social impact, synthetic biology and food.

We also want to extend a big thank you to our sponsors this year for supporting our show!

Learn more about our Gold Sponsor Multiverse Media, an integrated media company focusing on space exploration, science, and technology, and check out the Cislunar Market Opportunities report produced by NewSpace Global, a Multiverse Media property, for a snapshot and user guide to the players and opportunities ahead for the cislunar economy. To get your own copy please go to cislunar.report and use coupon code citizen10 for 10% off a single user license.

Learn more about our Silver Sponsor the Colorado School of Mines Space Resources Program, a first-of-its-kind interdisciplinary program that offers Certificate, Master of Science, and Ph.D. degrees for professionals around the world interested in the emerging field of extraterrestrial resources here.