FROM FAUNA FELLOWS

From Fauna Fellows

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Contents:

Introduction

Program Overview

Current

Alumni

Introduction

The From Fauna Fellowship Program

At From Fauna we are constantly engaging with individuals from around the world who are interested in cultivated meat. Many are as enthusiastic about Cultivated Meat as we are and want to get their hands dirty in working to advance the burgeoning field we represent. We started our From Fauna Fellowship Program to enable newcomers and industry veterans to do just that. By sharing our connections, ideas, and financial resources, we help empower our fellows to fulfill their dreams for cultivated meat.

From Fauna Fellow, Felipe Espitia

The categories of our From Fauna fellowship projects are as diverse as the people who work on them. From Fauna is proud to be the home of artists, scientists, authors, engineers, philosophers, military personnel, and economists from NGOs to Wall Street; all of whom are working to advance cultivated meat through scientific studies, environmental policy, textbook authorship, linguistic translation, 3D design, videography, as well as AI/programming-based projects. Our From Fauna Fellows have unique backgrounds as an international group representing over 15 countries. The diverse set of perspectives they bring to the table helps establish a stronger international landscape for cultivated meat.

Program Overview

Mission & Core Principles

Since From Fauna was founded, the individuals below have reached out to us with noble ambitions to pioneer the concept of cultivated meat, and we are thrilled to have been able to provide them with a platform. Our large and expanding From Fauna Fellowship community contributes to the advancement of cultivated meat in unique ways, and while we are honored for From Fauna to play a centralizing role in honing such inventive projects, the incredible work of our fellows is a testament to their own individuality, hard work, and innovativeness.

We founded the From Fauna Fellowship program on a set of core principles. These pillars are individually important for our organization and our future vision for cultivated meat, but they also stand as the foundation for a program that we hope to be productive and equitable. In no particular order, the From Fauna Fellowship program sets out to:

1 | Grant opportunity to newcomers, giving people a chance to get their foot in the door to an often difficult-to-enter cultivated meat space

2 | Offer a place where different types of cultivated meat ideas, science-related or otherwise, are free from categorical limitation and can flourish with opportunity that may not exist elsewhere

3 | Extend a streamlined process, start to finish, for fellowship applicants and awardees, making a fellow’s full-duration tenure void of encumbering bureaucracy and excessive supervision that can stymie progress and creativity; individuals are not only allowed, but encouraged to develop their cultivated meat projects independently, through their own vision

4 | Provide an unrestricted application system that does not discriminate against age, lack of experience, or geographic location so that the advancement of Cultivated Meat can be globally diverse in nature

If you would like to apply to become a From Fauna Fellow, please visit the bottom of our Team page where you will find more information on the program and our application form.

Current

Ongoing From Fauna Fellowship Projects

The following individuals currently serve as From Fauna Fellows. Outlined below are the various projects that encompass their active From Fauna Fellowships.

  • Outreach & Communication

    Shimoi Kalra

    Shimoi is a 14-year-old innovator from Toronto, Ontario, passionate about cultivated meat. She believes that the emerging field has the potential to revolutionize the way we produce food, while also addressing important social and environmental challenges. After learning about cultivated meat at just 11 years old, she started getting involved in the space. By 13, she had already coauthored a chapter on ‘Youth and cultivated meat’ in Modern Meat, the first textbook on cultivated meat. This publication made her one of the youngest official textbook authors in the world. A few months later, she began training a custom AI on cultivated meat, ultimately creating Lab Grown Meat GPT, the world’s first and most-used GPT on cultivated meat, found on the OpenAI GPT Store. In 2023, again at just 13-years old, Shimoi traveled from Canada to SF to give a talk to cultivated meat leaders and stakeholders about her journey in the space and what lies ahead. Shimoi's passion for cultivated meat has also led to her publishing articles on topics such as the world's first cultivated hamburger and a review paper on a ready-to-use therapeutic food used to treat children living with Severe Acute Malnutrition. With a drive to leave a positive mark on the world, Shimoi approaches her work with genuine excitement and eagerly seeks out opportunities to contribute and create meaningful change. At From Fauna, she’s working on everything from literary & design projects, AI & Cultivated Meat, and exploring how she can collaborate with influencers who can aid in the nonprofit’s mission of leveraging digital media for global education.

    To learn more about Shimoi or explore a collaboration with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Military & Space Application

    Symington W. Smith

    Symington is an award-winning global affairs expert, writer, investor and Wall Street executive. A British-Chinese American based in New York City, he is chief of staff at American multinational healthcare company BIMI Medical Inc. (NASDAQ: BIMI), an elected member of the National Committee on US-China Relations, and an elected fellow of the Royal Societies of Medicine & Public Health. Symington holds three degrees from Peking University, King’s College London, and Tsinghua University, and is currently studying for an MPH in non-communicable disease at Yale's School of Medicine & Public Health. With a background in sustainability, government and finance, Symington’s worked for the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom and law firm Baker McKenzie as a founding member of its Corporate M&A China Practice. Prior to From Fauna, he co-founded the first plant-based festival in Chinese history to promote sustainable food systems, welcomed former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Beijing as representative of the American community in China, and won Tatler Asia’s “Leader of Tomorrow Award” as a 'key leader shaping the future of Asia”. At From Fauna, Symington explores how cultivated meat can be applied societally, including how it can be used by the military in terms of food and materials, and its potential in space exploration.

  • Dominican Republic Market Assessment

    María Isabel Sánchez

    María is an author and engineer, originally from the Dominican Republic. She joined From Fauna in 2022 to explore the economic implications of cultivated meat integrating into the food system of the DR. María has a diverse background in engineering, sustainability, and creative writing. She’s held positions at ESW, the Nature Power Foundation, and is the author of Paula y sus bloques amarillos, a children’s book about gender equality, launched at the National Book Fair in Santo Domingo, and featured at the International Children’s Book Fair. She is also a contributing author to the South America chapter in Modern Meat, the first textbook on cultivated meat. María is currently a student at Stanford University, majoring in Mechanical Engineering and minoring in Creative Writing. She was previously involved in the Stanford Chemistry Department as a Course Development Assistant for “Chemistry in the Kitchen”, and serves as Co-President for the Stanford Golf Club. María is synthesizing her diverse experiences into her From Fauna Fellowship on Cultivated Meat and the DR; her work will connect these two topic areas that she’s passionate about into a novel project, allowing for better understanding of cultivated meat's potential, internationally.

    To learn more about María or explore a collaboration with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Youth Education & Nonprofit Strategy

    Okezue Bell

    Okezue is a young innovator from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. By age 15, he had already joined Microsoft as a Computer Scientist in the AI for Good Lab, developed Machine Learning algorithms at Hanson Robotics, worked as an FI Developer in the MIT Media Lab, and served as a Neuroengineering Researcher at Harvard Medical School, advancing the fields of prosthetics and bio-digital AI. Okezue is also the Founder & Director at Fidutam, a startup building equitable banking systems, served as a Machine Learning Collaborator at IBM, and worked on Neurotech R&D at the University of Pittsburgh. When he’s not studying for the SAT as a high school junior, Okezue is also working on projects like computational genetics and genomics at Stanford Medical School, genetics & gene-editing research with SickKids Hospital’s Cohn Lab, developing disease therapies, and is serving as a research collaborator at Mass Gen Hospital’s Anesthesia Department. His articles and personal blogs have received over 1M+ views and he’s spoken at conferences around the world, including Web Summit 2021 in Lisbon, Portugal. Even though he joined From Fauna as a Fellow at just 14 years old, Okezue had already contributed to the cultivated meat space in a multitude of ways, starting with his work at The Knowledge Society where he first learned about Cultivated Meat. He’s worked with multiple From Fauna Industry Partners, including Aleph Farms, serving as a Product Advisor, Perfect Day, founding their Gen Z Council, and Higher Steaks as a Biology and Business Intern. Okezue’s Fellowship at From Fauna has been as dynamic as he is. His current fellowship focus is in educational strategy, youth engagement, and nonprofit administration.

    To learn more about Okezue or explore a collaboration with him, please visit his Linkedin page or website.

  • Scientific Strategy

    Amir Nasajpour

    Amir is a biochemical engineer based out of Los Angeles, California. He holds a Bachelor’s in Molecular Biology from the University of Florida, and a Master’s in Chemistry from UCLA. Amir has taught lecture and laboratory courses at UCLA, as well as the University of Florida, and currently serves as an Editorial Referee for PloS One, as well as the American Institute of Physics - Journal of Applied Physics. Amir has conducted research on biochemistry at the Center for Heterocyclic Chemistry at the University of Florida, Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at Harvard Medical School, and most recently, cultivated meat scaffolding in the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA, where Amir is currently a PhD Candidate. His previous research in Self Assembly and Bio-inspired Design, featured in over a dozen peer-reviewed publications, inspired his current research focus, the synthesis of dynamic liquid crystal scaffolds for cultivated meat, for which he holds multiple patents. He joined From Fauna as a Fellow in 2021 to offer scientific strategy and technical consulting to his peer From Fauna Fellows, as well as the organization, overall.

    To learn more about Amir or explore a collaboration with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

  • Youth Education & Nonprofit Strategy

    Kimberly Liang

    Kimberly is a young innovator from Ontario, Canada. Starting with her work at The Knowledge Society, she has dedicated her youth to advancing cultivated meat. By the age of 16, she had already completed multiple roles with the UN, including serving as a UNA Canada SDG Ambassador and consulting with UN Women on their digital economy strategy in Bangalore, India. Before graduating high school, her work in cultivated meat included completing her first TED Talk, FBS-alternative media development as a Research Assistant in the Pelling Lab, developing cell lines and scaling bioprocess through her internship at cultivated meat company, Higher Steaks, facilitating Canadian youth to find opportunities in Cultivated Meat via educational tools that she helped build for Cultivated Meat Canada, and a personal project of hers on bioreactor optimization, using 4D scaffolding to improve the texture of cultivated meat. She’s passionate about educating her Gen Z peers about cultivated meat, having produced many articles and videos for the public on her Medium and YouTube pages, respectively. Kimberly’s Fellowship at From Fauna started in 2021, and has been as dynamic as she is. She’s involved in areas such as educational strategy, youth engagement, and nonprofit administration, and is also the lead author of the Implications for Youth chapter in the From Fauna textbook. Kimberly is completing her Bachelor’s at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania and graduated from high school in 2022 as Valedictorian.

    To learn more about Kimberly or explore a collaboration with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Food Distribution for Hunger Alleviation

    Eileen McNamara

    Eileen is an interdisciplinary neurobiologist and data analyst from Bethesda, Maryland. She has a diverse background in neuroscience and biological data analytics, previously conducting research for the United States Department of Defense, The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, as well as Wake Forest University. She holds a Bachelor’s in Neurobiology from Wakeforest, and is currently a Neuroscience PhD Candidate at the Uniformed Services University, studying traumatic brain injury. Eileen’s From Fauna Fellowship is focused on food insecurity, a project sparked by her personal story detailed in her 2nd place-winning 2021 Protein Report Essay. She started her fellowship in 2021 when she began a collaborative project with From Fauna Fellow, Juan Lucas Umali, related to cultivated meat food distribution towards hunger alleviation. Eileen led the development of the project’s research design, comparing different Cultivated Meat distribution models with From Fauna Industry Partners, and is also leading the data analytics for the project; her and Juan aim to discover optimal Cultivated Meat food distribution models in pursuit of addressing issues of global hunger. Eileen is also the lead author of the UN SDG: Humanity chapter in the From Fauna textbook.

    To learn more about Eileen or explore a collaboration with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Food Distribution for Hunger Alleviation

    Juan Lucas Umali

    Juan Lucas is a young innovator based out of Hong Kong, China. He became interested in cultivated meat while studying at the Hong Kong International School, where he learned how Cultivated Meat could be leveraged to better distribute food to insecure communities, including those of his home country, the Philippines. Juan Lucas began his fellowship in 2021, when he started a collaborative project with From Fauna Fellow, Eileen McNamara, related to cultivated meat food distribution for hunger alleviation. He aided in the project’s research design, managed communications, and developed surveys for From Fauna Industry Partners. The fellowship aims to discover which food distribution models are optimal in pursuit of addressing issues of global hunger.

    To learn more about Juan Lucas or explore a collaboration with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

  • Product & Brand Strategy

    Christine Wheeler

    Christine brings extensive marketing experience to her role as a From Fauna Fellow. She holds a BS from Northwestern University and an MBA in Marketing from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. As a classically trained marketer, Christine has worked in roles such as Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble and Senior Product Manager at Church & Dwight. Christine, based out of California’s Bay Area, joined From Fauna in 2020 to conduct a product and brand equity analysis of the U.S. packaged meat industry. Christine’s project will facilitate the development of commercialization strategies for cultivated meat manufacturers, as well as public relations strategy for the cultivated meat field more broadly.

    To learn more about Christine or explore a collaboration on this project, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Hands-on Education

    Sawyer Hall

    An engineer based out of New York, Sawyer joined From Fauna in 2020 during his gap year from Dartmouth to pursue a small-scale physical representation of Project CMF. He plans to develop this educational experience for Cultivated Meat through precision laser cutting, 3D printing, and digital simulations, eventually getting the hands-on activities into local schools in California’s Bay Area, and internationally, thereafter. Sawyer is also an Editorial Assistant for the From Fauna Textbook.

    If you are interested in contributing to this project or would like to learn more about Sawyer, please connect with him on Linkedin.

  • Sociology & Nonprofit Strategy

    Felipe Espitia

    Felipe is an economist, philanthropic consultant, and sociology researcher, currently working at the hedge fund, Citadel, on Wall Street. He is originally from Colombia and is a Harvard graduate who has held positions at Goldman Sachs, Harvard’s Kennedy School, and the Phillips Brooks House. Felipe wears many hats at From Fauna, originally joining as a From Fauna Fellow in 2018 to help develop a volunteer platform, but since, continuing his work in roles such as program strategist, social media consultant, and lead author of the South America: Economics and Culture chapter in the From Fauna textbook.

    To learn more about Felipe or explore a collaboration with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

Alumni

Previous From Fauna Fellowships

Our From Fauna Fellow Alumni have helped pioneer the field of cultivated meat. Some have stayed in the Cultivated Meat space after their fellowship, working as scientists, academics, and consultants, as well as cultivated meat company and nonprofit founders. Others have taken roles at companies like Apple, Google, and Goldman Sachs, working in a wide range of fields such as finance, cancer research, and the military. The following individuals previously served as From Fauna Fellows; outlined below are their projects that encompass their completed From Fauna Fellowships.

  • Motion Design & Artistic Strategy

    Henry Mbwille

    Henry is a visual designer and creative executive, based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He is currently the Creative Director at Young Creative Leaders and has previously worked as a Senior Art Director at Dentsu, as well as Aggrey & Clifford, specializing in advertising and graphic design. Henry joined From Fauna as a Fellow in 2019, where his work focused on logo motion design and artistic strategy for Project CMF. You can see an example of his logo animation work within our What We Do video. Henry is also a United Nations Volunteer, completing his fellowship through the From Fauna-UN Partnership.

    To learn more about Henry or explore a collaboration with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

  • Concept Exploration

    Satya Naagesh

    Satya is an interaction designer and futurist, based in London, UK. She joined From Fauna in 2021 to stimulate discourse on the implications of speculative futures and alternate realities. Satya holds a BA in economics from UC, San Diego and has worked in digital advertising and UX design in New York, Madrid and Los Angeles. In 2019, she won a design futures award for her interactive prototype which will be exhibited at BBC’s London Headquarters, and has exhibited her work at the 2020 CAA Conference in Chicago. Satya’s From Fauna Fellowship was focused on a creative exploration of cultivated meat's conceptual reach, thinking about how its principles may be translated outside of the animal agriculture space, exclusively. Similar to future predictions of Cultivated Meat hundreds of years ago where pure ideation was prioritized over scientific projections, Satya’s work pushes the fundamental boundaries of cultivated meat, conceptually and may spearhead the next major breakthrough for the field.

    To learn more about Satya’s fellowship project, which is also the primary focus of her MA in Design Products x Design Futures at the Royal College of Art, you can visit her project webpage, Unnatural Natural: A Conceptual Exploration of Cultivated Meat. To learn more about Satya or connect with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Multilingual Translation

    Annesha Kargupta

    Annesha is a multilingual translator based in Kolkata, India. Fluent in over 10 languages, Annesha has served as a volunteer translator with the Red Elephant Foundation, Translation without Border, and has served as a GTC online course translator. Annesha joined From Fauna as a Fellow in 2019, primarily focused on translation efforts for the From Fauna Website and Project CMF. You can see some of her translation work featured in our What We Do video. Annesha also served as a United Nations Volunteer, completing her fellowship through the From Fauna-UN Partnership.

    To learn more about Annesha or explore a collaboration with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Creative Consulting

    Yishan Qin

    Yishan is an innovation design engineer and freelance illustrator, originally from China. She joined From Fauna in 2019 while a student at the Royal College of Art in London, UK and her fellowship consisted of consulting on multiple creative projects across From Fauna.

    Please click here to explore Yishan’s portfolio. If you are interested in collaborating with Yishan, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Graphic Design & Artistic Strategy

    Daniela Isaza Toro

    Daniela is an interaction designer and visual artist, based in Toronto, Canada. She is also the co-founder of Mediabite Agencia Digital, a digital marketing and brand management company that she started in Colombia, where she is originally from. She joined From Fauna as a Fellow in 2019 and worked on a variety of creative projects. Daniela was also a United Nations Volunteer, completing her fellowship through the From Fauna-UN Partnership.

    To learn more about Daniela or explore a collaboration with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Social Science | Chinese Consumer Acceptance

    Chloe Dempsey

    Chloe joined From Fauna in 2019 while completing a Masters of Economics as a Yenching scholar at Peking University in Beijing. She is a social scientist with a diverse geographical background, originally from Australia and Ireland, having lived in China and Brazil, and proficient in 5 languages. Her From Fauna Fellowship project investigated Chinese messaging for cultivated meat. She surveyed more than 1,000 Chinese consumers and found over 70% reported a willingness to try Cultivated Meat, with the most highly rated marketable attributes being Cultivated Meat's food safety and health benefits. Chloe has also authored multiple textbook chapters on cultivated meat, including serving as lead author of the Asia: Economics and Culture chapter in the From Fauna textbook. After her From Fauna Fellowship, she went on to work at the Minderoo Foundation & Tattarang.

    To learn more about Chloe’s fellowship on Chinese messaging for Cultivated Meat, please read her full project report here. You can also find an Apple podcast episode with the Beijing Energy Network discussing her fellowship project. To learn more about Chloe or connect with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Social Science | Nutritional Enhancement

    Fabian Baumann

    As a graduate business student based out of TH Köln in Cologne, Germany, Fabian joined From Fauna in 2018 to pursue a social science fellowship. His research investigated consumer interest towards potential nutritional enhancements of cultivated meat. While his hypothesis was that a healthier modulation of omega and saturated fat quantities in a meat product would be appealing, his research found no significant difference in purchase intent for nutritionally enhanced Cultivated Meat products. Another key finding was that consumers perceived Cultivated Meat to likely taste different than AnimalAg meat if core ingredients are modified through nutritional enhancement.

    To learn more about Fabian’s study on nutritional enhancements for Cultivated Meat, please read his full project report here. To learn more about Fabian or connect with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

  • Global Food Security

    Clara Hagedorn

    In 2019, while completing her Master’s in Global Food Security & Development at Nottingham Trent, Clara joined as a From Fauna Fellow to complete her Dissertation on cultivated meat's potential on the future of global food security. She explored global food security broadly and qualitatively; a key finding of her research was that the impact of cultivated meat would differ between urban and rural areas, based on where meat production is likely to localize in the future. After her work at From Fauna, Clara went on to work as a political outreach officer in Germany for ProVeg International and co-founded Germany’s first cultivated meat nonprofit, CellAg Germany.

    To learn more about Clara’s work, please read her full project report here. To learn more about Clara or connect with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Social Science | German Nomenclature

    Carolina Janat

    Carolina is a social scientist and linguistic analyst, hailing from Vienna, Austria. She joined From Fauna in 2019 to conduct a consumer acceptance study investigating German-language dynamics of cultivated meat; her project specifically explored how different descriptive names for Cultivated Meat are perceived in German. A key finding from her study was that a range of names (ie. kultiviertes Fleisch, kultiviertes Protein, Fleisch aus Zellkultur, and zellbasiertes Fleisch) were appealing to consumers in Germany. Carolina also reported that over 60% of German consumers expressed willingness to try meat from cultivated meat, with benefits to animals and the environment serving as the most highly rated reasons for consumption interest. After her From Fauna Fellowship, she went on to work as Marketing Manager at Schur Flexibles Group.

    To learn more about Carolina’s work on the dynamics of Cultivated Meat nomenclature within the German language, please read her full project report here. To learn more about Carolina or connect with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Nonprofit Volunteer Platform

    Miela Foster

    Miela joined as a From Fauna Fellow in 2018 to help develop a nonprofit volunteer platform. She worked with key stakeholders in the cultivated meat space to design and manage the development of the platform and delivered her project as a presentation at the 2019 Alternative Protein Show. Miela is originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan and was an undergraduate studying statistics and computer science at Harvard during her From Fauna Fellowship. After her fellowship, Miela went on to graduate from Harvard, founded Oak Systems, serving as COO, and worked as an Engineering Project Manager at Apple.

    To learn more about Miela or to connect with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Nonprofit Legal Counseling

    Taro Tan

    Taro, originally from Singapore, joined From Fauna in 2018 while studying as a Masters in Law Candidate at Harvard Law School. His fellowship centered around early legal structuring for From Fauna. Taro previously studied at Cambridge University, where he received his BA in Law and served as the President of the Cambridge University Law and Business Association, and President of the Sir David Williams Society. After his work with From Fauna, Taro went on to graduate with his LLM from Harvard Law School in 2018. He also served as an editor of the Harvard Kennedy School Student Publication, the Singapore Policy Journal.

    To learn more about Taro or to connect with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

  • Academic Outreach - Harvard

    Matthew Mandel

    Matthew became a From Fauna Fellow in 2018 as a Harvard student and Lester Kissel Grant awardee in the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, studying Philosophy and Computer Science. Among various awareness-building efforts at the undergraduate and graduate levels, he helped develop cultivated meat curriculum for proposed courses at Harvard, leading a team that spearheaded the first conversations with Harvard administration to create a course on cultivated meat. This ultimately translated to faculty across the university expressing interest in teaching it, but due to a multitude of reasons, including Matthew’s graduation in 2019, a formal course was not established. His efforts, however, laid the groundwork for Cultivated Meat student organizations, guest lectures, and eventual groundbreaking research at Harvard. After his fellowship at From Fauna, Matthew went on to work in Farm Development at AeroFarms.

    To learn more about Matthew or to connect with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

  • Academic Outreach - Yale

    Abhi Kumar

    Abhi joined From Fauna as a fellow in 2018 while completing his Masters in Management degree from the Yale School of Management. His fellowship work centered around cultivated meat awareness building at Yale, for which he helped facilitate broad student interest by designing and facilitating a course through the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale. Abhi’s academic and commercial career has included stints at the world’s largest eyewear company, EssilorLuxottica, in decision science research at one of India’s leading business schools, the Indian Institute of Management-Bangalore, and as a graduate of Yale University, HEC Paris, and Singapore Management University. After his work as a From Fauna Fellow, Abhi joined the advisory board of From Fauna and went on to join Lever VC as a Venture Partner, as well as an investment consultant at Ahimsa VC.

    To learn more about Abhi or to connect with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

  • Nonprofit Programming Strategy

    Deepika Phakke

    Originally from Hyderabad, India, Deepika has worked at Google in a number of roles including Global Operations Manager, Partnership Strategist, and Chief of Staff, where she led the Google Ads team, scaling their ~$20B Display and Video Ads business. While jointly serving as Chief of Staff, Deepika joined as a fellow in 2018 to help refine From Fauna programming strategy. After her fellowship, Deepika continued to support From Fauna as an advisor and is a contributing author within the UN SDG: Environment chapter in the From Fauna textbook. Deepika is also the founder and CEO of Nama Water, a company she started in 2019 that provides sustainable bottled water alternatives.

    To learn more about Deepika or to connect with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • Cultivated Meat Turkey Muscle & Fat R&D

    Andrew Goldwasser

    A biomedical engineer from New Jersey, Andrew joined From Fauna while studying Biotechnology at Rutgers. His fellowship’s focus was to conduct a natural science study on cultivated turkey meat. His work was primarily focused on growing turkey muscle and fat cells, exploring different biochemical variables that would optimize for eventual scale up strategies for cultivated meat. His work was conducted at Tufts University, in collaboration with David Kaplan’s cultivated meat group and nonprofit, New Harvest. After his work with From Fauna, Andrew went on to work in cancer research, serving as a cell culture production operator at Novartis.

    To learn more about Andrew or to connect with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

  • Academic Outreach - Kyoto

    Yudai Miyoshi

    Yudai, originally from Yokohama, Japan, joined From Fauna in 2018 while studying fermentation physiology and microbiology at Kyoto University’s Division of Applied Life Sciences. He was also a student at Kyoto’s Faculty of Integrated Human Studies where he studied philosophy and ethics. His fellowship focused on developing the first cultivated meat student organization at Kyoto University, which was also the first of its kind in all of Japan. Yudai served as the Founder & President of this organization, previously known as the Kyoto CAS Chapter, increasing awareness across his campus through a variety of measures, including holding scientific and philosophical-related events on cultivated meat. After his work at From Fauna, Yudai obtained his Master’s from the Kyoto Graduate School of Agriculture and worked at the Japanese News & Media Website, m3.

    To learn more about Yudai or to connect with him, please visit his webpage here.

  • CAS Chapter Management

    Jeremy Piacente

    After an extended duration managing a growing group of international student organizations at CAS, formerly known as CAS Chapters, Jeremy joined as a CAS Fellow in 2018 to lead the program as CAS Chapter Liaison. His work would include helping students start and lead new cultivated meat student organizations and aiding the academic groups in facilitating global awareness of Cultivated Meat. After Jeremy’s tenure, the CAS Chapter program was dissolved due to CAS organizational restructuring but Jeremy and the CAS Chapter leaders with whom he coordinated all served as pioneers, starting the first student groups on Cultivated Meat in the world during the 2010’s. After his fellowship at CAS, Jeremy went on to hold various positions in the cultivated meat industry including Research Fellow at the Good Food Institute, Director of BYAS, and Laboratory Technician at NYC-based LabFarmFoods.

    To learn more about Jeremy or to connect with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

  • Nonprofit Partnership Strategy

    Shuo Li Liu

    Originally from China and Canada, Shuo joined From Fauna in 2018 while serving as a Research Fellow at Harvard. His fellowship started with developing partnership strategy, sparked by From Fauna joining as a VIP Venture at the Harvard Innovation Lab, but he continued his efforts far beyond. To say Shuo has been an active member of From Fauna, and the Cultivated Meat community overall, would be a massive understatement. Shuo has spearheaded multiple Cultivated Meat student organizations around the world, as well as various textbook chapters and publications, including a report published in Science; he has delivered countless guest lectures, and has built key institutional and government partnerships for From Fauna including with the UN. After his fellowship work at From Fauna, Shuo transitioned into an advisory role and is jointly pursuing his PhD in Computational Mathematics at Stanford.

    To learn more about Shuo or to connect with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

  • Cultivated Meat Historical Analysis

    Colton Biehl

    Colton became a From Fauna Fellow in 2018 while studying Neuroscience at Florida Atlantic University. His fellowship project focused on synthesizing a historical analysis of cultivated meat in narrative form. This ultimately translated to his authoring the publication, History & Neomnivore alongside From Fauna Founder, Kris Spiros. After his work at From Fauna, Colton went on to serve as a Lieutenant in the United States Military and studied pathology at Nova Southeastern Medical School.

    To learn more about Colton or to connect with him, please visit his Linkedin page.

  • Academic Outreach - UCF

    Emilia Kosonen

    Emilia is an editor, director, and production designer from Orlando, Florida. She joined as a From Fauna Fellow in 2018 while completing her Bachelor’s in Film at the University of Central Florida. Her fellowship centered on cultivated meat awareness building at UCF, which has one of the largest student bodies of any university in the world. Emilia founded and led a CAS Chapter at UCF, which organized events with guest speakers, promoted Cultivated Meat through social media and class presentations, and created a Cultivated Meat community for students to conduct research and spread awareness about cultivated meat across the UCF campus. Emilia was also instrumental in the creation of the CAS Chapter program, and overall, with organizational development in the early days of From Fauna. After her fellowship, Emilia went on to work as an Advisor at Apple and Editor at Tyto Media.

    To learn more about Emilia or to connect with her, please visit her Linkedin page.

  • From Fauna Organizational Structure

    Daan Luining

    A molecular biologist from the Netherlands, Daan joined From Fauna in 2018 after years of pioneering the cultivated meat space, including working on the world’s first Cultivated Meat hamburger in 2013. Daan helped develop the nonprofit organizational structure of From Fauna and subsequently served in a multitude of roles, including research director and chief scientific counsel. After his fellowship at From Fauna, Daan went on to co-found the cultivated meat company and From Fauna Industry Partner, Meatable, where he serves as the Chief Technology Officer.

    To learn more about Daan or to connect with him, please visit his Linkedin page.