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/In
• Future Ecologies
• Golden State Naturalist
• Jumpstart Nature
• Nature's Archive

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!

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!