Science, Technology, Exploration, Discovery. Innovation

After an extended period of crisis, there is a strong desire for renewal. After war, there is a post-war expansion and up-turn. People, weary of death and destruction look to a better future. With peace comes a second chance and an incredible release of creativity and new economic opportunity.

Like war, virus outbreaks have shaped politics, crushed revolutions, and entrenched racial and economic discrimination. Viral epidemics reshape the societies they spread through, affecting personal relationships, the work of artists and intellectuals, and natural and the man-made environments. Unlike war, viruses do not afflict societies in random and chaotic ways. They’re ordered events, as microbes selectively expand to explore niches that humans have created. All this from something that is .008 μm (microns) in size. A single human hair is 50 μm in width. 

How “new” is all this? Have we been here before? What have we learned? How did we do it? Can we “defeat” these things? How did things change after past endemics and pandemics? What innovations were born out of these tribulations? What can we expect to see in our future? 

Jonathan explores the dynamics of large-scale, long term change with a focus on beyond the horizon technologies, providing insight on the evolving role of applied innovation. Jonathan currently serves as the Science and Exploration Fellow at Mission Blue—The Sylvia Earle Alliance; Advisor to Schmidt Marine Technology Partners—a program of the Schmidt Family Foundation; Exploration and Ideation Director at the NASA Frontier Development Lab; and Distinguished Fellow at Singularity University. He sits on the boards of, and as an advisor to, several ocean, space, technology, learning, and exploration-focused start-up and nonprofit organizations. Join us as Jonathan Knowles takes us on a fascinating journey through the last 100 years of our relationship with the tiny molecules that continue to influence our destiny.

With over 25 years of experience in Silicon Valley in leadership positions at Apple, Adobe, and Autodesk in strategy, communications, market development, product management, technology development, and more Jonathan is a creative thinker and respected thought leader on future trends, long-range vision, and creating a preferred future. Passionate about discovery, innovation, and accentuating the positive, Jonathan advises start-ups, business leaders, government officials, and academics around the world.