Growing up , Ginger Krieg Dosier was fascinated by two things — her father ’ s concrete mixer and collecting seashells . Little did she know the two would eventually inform her life ’ s work and the building blocks of tomorrow ’ s cities .
Microorganisms are the key to Biomason ’ s biocementation .
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BIOMASON
“ If you look at a shell , it ’ s a strong , cement-based structure , just like concrete ,” explains the co-founder of North Carolina-based biotechnology company Biomason . “ I remember the first time I went to the beach , and I just stopped at the first sight of a seashell . I was just so curious about how they were made .”
That enthusiasm for concrete and construction led to studying architecture and , after graduating with a master ’ s degree in architecture in 2005 , to a professorship at the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates . Yet Dosier remained far more interested in the origin and properties of construction materials than with the constructions themselves .
“ I would spend my days diving into materials libraries , particularly
CEO and co-founder Ginger Krieg Dosier stands in Biomason ’ s Fermentation Lab , 10 years after starting the first biocement experiments in a makeshift lab in her spare bedroom .
approaching this from a sustainability perspective ,” Dosier says . “ But , at the time , sustainability was still just emerging as a concern [ in the construction industry ], so there weren ’ t a lot of options out there .”
Since beginning her architecture studies in 1996 , she ’ d already started to see cement in a different light . As a binder used to fix loose sand and gravel into solid concrete forms , portland cement — named for its resemblance to a particular variety of limestone from the Isle of Portland in the United Kingdom —
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