John used to launch rockets into space, now he’s Seed’s Head of Operations. For the last four years, John worked at SpaceX, where he specialized in supply chain management, strategic sourcing, and technology development for the aerospace manufacturers’ most ambitious projects. Notably, he played an instrumental part in the development of the Falcon Heavy rocket and built the automated production line for the world’s first reusable thermal protection material. John invented systems at SpaceX for key processes like recycling expensive carbon fiber—and he developed SpaceX’s first virtual reality lab.

His enthusiasm for scientific exploration has led him to an exploration inward–into the invisible universe of the human microbiome, as vast and unknown as the stars. He holds a BA in Economics and a Minor in Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California.

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In conversation with John:

Share your life story in six words:
Cosmos to cells; one curious explorer.

What was your first brush with science?
Finding sea creatures in tide pools along the California coast.

What’s your current obsession? In other words, what wakes you up every morning?
Finding new places in the world to go backpacking (after Seed of course).

Why do you think bacteria are important?
They are the hidden engines that shape and support all living things.

How do you define science?
Gradual human progression towards understanding our universe.

How do you define health?
The ability to live without mental or physical interruption or limitations.

What are you currently reading / listening to / watching?
Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ; by Giulia Enders / HBO: Westworld.

Favorite microbiome-nurturing food?
any/all fruits and nuts.

Scientist, dead or alive, you’d like to have lunch with?
Stephen Hawking or Benjamin Franklin.

Microbiome perturbation you’re trying to give up?
Frosted Flakes cereal.

Favorite science joke or best mindgasm fact?
You could fit all the planets in our solar system in the distance between the Earth and our Moon.

Most mindgasmic thing you’ve learned since being involved with Seed?
That there is a constant, high speed, evolutionary ecology happening inside all of us—each with unique bacterial populations, diversity, and interactions.

The song you get sh*t done to:
Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac.

Fact most people don’t know about you:
I am an experienced ornithologist (look it up).

Social?
@jamorg
@johnnybirdseed