Tyler Volk

Tyler Volk is Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at New York University. His research involves the global carbon cycle, world energy, the role of life and evolution in the biosphere, and general systems studies. His newest book is Quarks to Culture: How We Came to Be, featured in his recent Rorotoko interview. Recipient of the NYU All-University Distinguished Teaching Award, Volk lectures and travels widely, communicates his ideas in a variety of media, plays lead guitar for the science-inspired rock band The Amygdaloids, and is an avid outdoorsman. Volk’s previous books include CO2 Rising: The World’s Greatest Environmental Challenge, featured in his earlier Rorotoko interview; Metapatterns Across Space, Time, and Mind; and Gaia’s Body: Toward a Physiology of Earth. As to an overarching theme across all these books, he might say, “systems and their mysterious ways, deeply relevant for human life.”