Thomson Mason Fisher

From Open Source Ecology
Jump to: navigation, search

Team Culturing Information

Last updated: September 25, 2012

WHO are you?

  • Name - Thomson Mason Fisher
  • Location (city, country) - Pullman, WA, USA
  • Contact Information (email, skype, phone) - tmf4p (at) virginia (dot) edu
  • Picture -
  • Introductory Video -
  • Resume/CV - EDUCATION


University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
B.A. Astronomy and Biology May 2010
Areas of Concentration: Planetary science and astrobiology, evolutionary biology

Senior Thesis for Astronomy Fall 2008: “Biosignatures on Mars”
• (advisor: Alan Howard, Professor, UVA Dept. of Environmental Science)
Washington State University, Pullman, WA
M.S. Environmental Science Dec. 2012 (expected)
Thesis topic: Modeling a Subglacial Ecosystem with Implications for Mars
• (advisor: Dirk Schulze-Makuch, Professor, WSU School of the Environment)
RELATED EXPERIENCE

University of Virginia Astronomy Department
Research Assistant
Reduce image data from the January 2005 opposition of Saturn, with the ultimate goal of gaining photometric data on the Saturnine Moons (PI: Ann Verbiscer, Research Scientist, UVA Dept. of Astronomy). Results were presented at the 2010 DPS Fall 2009- Fall 2010

NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center
Research Associate
Reduce images from the Hubble Space Telescope via IDL in order to extract spectrographic data concerning the tenuous atmosphere of Europa (PI: Melissa McGrath, Chief Scientist, MSFC/NSSTC). Part of the highly competitive NASA Academy program. Summer 2009

PRESENTATIONS
• Fisher, T.M.(August 2009). Observations on the Tenuous Atmosphere of Europa via the Hubble Space Telescope. Presented to the MSFC NASA Academy.
• Fisher, T.M., Verbiscer, A., Herbst, T., Thiele, U., Guijarro, A., Pedraz, S.(October 2010). Observations of Iapetus near True Opposition. Presented at the 42nd Annual DPS Meeting.
• Fisher, T.M. (April 2012). A Preliminary Model of a Subglacial Martian Ecosystem. Presented at the 2012 Astrobiology Science Conference.

POSTERS

• Fisher, T.M. “Observations on the Tenuous Atmosphere of Europa via the Hubble Space Telescope.” 2009 MSFC Intern Poster Expo
• Verbiscer, A., Fisher, T.M., French, R.G., “The Strongest Opposition Surges: Products of Ejecta Exchange?” 42nd Annual DPS Meeting.
• Fisher, T.M. “Identifying Martian Analogue Environments for Modeling a Potential Martian Ecosystem.” 2011 Astrobiology Graduate Conference.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Washington State University
Grader May 2010
Graded assignments and exams for Introduction to Oceanography

OTHER ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Semifinalist, NASA Astrobiology-Famelab Science Communication Competition, Washington D.C. Preliminary.

WHY are you motivated to support/develop this work?

  • Do you endorse open source culture?

While I am relatively new to open source culture, as a scientist I am very much in-line with the principles of free and open access to information (peer review can't work without it!), and the power of the distributive model.

  • Why are you interested in collaborating with us?

I believe OSE represents a radical new approach to modern civilization, one that preserves a relatively high standard of living, but at a vastly lower economic, social, and environmental cost.

Also, given my day job (astrobiologist), OSE represents the kind of sustainable society plan that would still possess enough scientific and technical acumen to maintain a decent space program, which naturally be of great interest to me.

  • How do you think that the GVCS can address pressing world issues?

First and foremost, by providing a way for the developing or less industrialized populations of the world a way up to a much higher quality of life, but without incurring the massive ecological damage that was required by the currently industrialized nations. Since higher quality of life correlates with many positive environmental and social traits as well (lower birthrate, more empowerment to women and minorities, more concern for the environment in general), OSE may very well give us a way to have the good of modern life without the bad (or at least anywhere near as much of it).

  • What should happen so that you become more involved with the project?

Honestly, my areas of expertise are a bit removed from the current work of the project; however, as the project moves along and diversifies, I suspect more of it will come in handy.

  • What is missing in the project?

First and foremost, there seems to very little said about medicine or medical treatments. These are absolutely critical to modern society- you can't really run one if your life expectancy is less than 40- and we should be looking into ways to make it possible to locally produce important medical equipment and compounds.

Also- and this is for much farther in the future- I would like to see more investigation into how OSE might go about producing the infrastructure needed for scientific research. I believe that our innate curiosity is one of our species's greatest traits, and science is the best way of discovering and understanding the universe. A society that has its basic needs met should be able to allocate resources to scientific research for the betterment of the community, and for the advancement of humanity as a whole, but we will have to find ways of doing so in a sustainable and affordable manner.

  • What are your suggestions for improvement of the project?

Basically what's mentioned above- incorporating medicine and (eventually) scientific research into the scope of the project.

WHAT are your skills?

  • List all of your skills in these areas: Communications - Organizational - Computer Support - Finances - Design - Natural Building - Electronics - Automation - Metallurgy - Engineering - Fabrication - Agriculture - Energy - Architecture - Video/Graphics/Art - PR/Marketing - Education - Construction - Industry - CNC - Chemistry - Product Design - Other

Communications- Experience and trained in science communication.

Other- Molecular biology lab work; system dynamics modeling

  • How have you already contributed to the project?

I've been looking around for information to build up the Bio Lab page on the wiki

HOW can you help?

  • How are you interested in contributing to the work of GVCS development?

The area I can most easily contribute would be those relating to biotechnology. While this is a bit further down the road compared to the present state of GVCS, it may come in handing for metal extraction (through biomining and biohydrometallurgy), agriculture (applied microbial ecology), medicine (cultivating medicinal organisms, e.g. antibiotics producing fungi, probiotics, etc), and scientific research (molecular biology, microbial ecology, and the applications of both).

  • Can you volunteer to work with us, and if so, how many hours per week?

Not at this time- being a graduate student is basically consuming my life right now, and will do so for at least the next few years.

  • Are you interested in working with us for pay? If so, what services can you offer, and what is your hourly or per-project rate?

Not at this time.

Not at this time.

  • Are you interested in purchasing equipment from us to help bootstrap development?

Not at this time.

  • Are you interested in bidding for consulting/design/prototyping work?

Potentially, in the future

No- low on cash at the moment

  • Would you like to see yourself working with us on a full-time basis?

Not in the near future, but I would still like contribute.

  • Are you interested in being part of the world's first, open source, resilient community? The GVCS is the preparatory step for the OSE Village Experiment – a 2 year, immersion experiment (2013-2014) for testing whether a real, thriving, modern-day prototype community of 200 people can be built on 200 acres using local resources and open access to information? We are looking for approximately 200 people to fill a diverse array of roles, according to the Social Contract that is being developed. This may be the boldest social experiment on earth - a pioneering community whose goal is to extend the index of possibilities regarding harmonious existence of humans, ecology, and technology.

Not at this time (astrobiology calls!). I will be very interested in how the experiment turns out, though.

Retrieved from "https://wiki.opensourceecology.org/index.php?title=Thomson_Mason_Fisher&oldid=74600"