Samuel Thompson, PhD Awarded Homeworld Collective’s Garden Grant

2022 AOB Postdoc Samuel Thompson, PhD (Stanford University) was named to Homeworld Collective’s inaugural Garden Grants awardee cohort with a project focused on catalyzing biofuel production – a proof of concept and screening platform for designing proteins for organic solvents. Homeworld Collective Garden Grants provide funding to grow climate biotech, this year awarding $1.35M across 16 teams.

Shared Thompson: "I've been dreaming of engineering proteins for industrial applications for more than a decade now, so the support from Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation was an unbelievable vote of confidence in my long-term vision. The Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral was critical at the outset of this project when I was starting from zero and proposing to develop the fundamental methods. Now, this funding from the Homeworld Collective will turbocharge the project because we finally have many methods for producing proteins and assaying them in very harsh and non-biological conditions. There is such incredible synergy between the emphasis that the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation places on method development and the Homeworld Collective's ambition for funding proof of concept projects. I'm incredibly grateful to be a member of an amazing cohort of scientist who are all aiming take protein engineering into new areas and address major challenges for sustainability and climate rehabilitation."