If you are interested in participating please leave a comment explaining how you might contribute to this potential project and explaining the level of commitment you are able to make.

Initial Inspiration

I was at the Anable Basin Sailing Bar & Grill and I met the crew and captain of the Schooner Apollonia. They are interested in finding a stable business model to support their desire sail, to increase the awareness of low-carbon cargo transport, and to establish the viability of sail freight on the Husdon/East river. The captain (Sam) mentioned that last year they transported oak stumps to a farm in Redhook for shiitake cultivation which was paid for by some sort of Cornell grant which is no longer active. They want to build relationships that could lead to stable business for them.

Based on this meeting I proposed that Gil, Sneha, and I meet for a defined period to explore possibilities that could weave some local communities together and provide a useful application for the Biotech Without Borders lab. As with much of my outreach on Loomio, I also wanted to model possible ways the tool could be used to find collaborators. This also comes with a conceptual understanding of BwoB that has been made clear to me from reading about Microsolidarity. Briefly, microsolidarity seeks to build robust communities of purpose and belonging that can operate shared infrastructure. It makes explicit formats of human organization ranging from individuals to dyads, to crews, to congregations, and ending with a crowd. The size of these groups both limits the types of actions that can be done (because of challenges in coordination and trust) as well as what resources it has available. I want to do more explicit and deliberate work with this conceptual practice.

Navigating commitments and timing

Only Danny is a member of Biotech Without Borders in the current formulation of the crew. But he communicated that one does not have to be a member to participate in this "outer" level of the BwoB community. Indeed there are a host of folks who are not members who volunteer or otherwise help the organization. It's also possible that relationships built here may result in action taken outside of BwoB, as long as BwoB is part of the plans or a member of BwoB is involved Loomio can continue to be used for organizing.

He committed to convening the first 2 meetings which resulted in some notes (from July 15 and July 27) as well as the first of the next 3 meetings (following the microsolidarity principles each meeting to be convened by one participant, meetings are finite) which will take place monthly starting in October. This timing is loosely building toward late winter/early spring (2023) harvest of log stumps.

Potential Projects and Resources

Danny is eager to explore methods for quantitative trait loci (QTL) assisted breeding. But our crew does not have any expertise in growing from spore. However, Sneha is confident that this expertise does exist in her network. There may factors influencing the success of breeding if genetically distinct plugs inhabit the same log. Furthermore, log cultivation may be slower than some plants.

Sneha is interested in experimenting with atypical cultivars of mushrooms. She has noticed patterns of competition on logs she has access too. She has access to several sites where there are existing log farms. Gil and Danny are both members of Smiling Hoghead Ranch which may allow a log yard to be set up as well as cared for if the gardeners can partake in the harvest.

Gil is interested in mycoremediation. Although touching the water of the Superfund may be illegal, work on brownfields would be less so. Interestingly these logs would be in brackish water which is not thought to be conducive to mushroom cultivation. He is familiar with sites where experimental work on mycoremediation could be conducted. He is also working on a project that is in year 6 where the output is a large agricultural farm.