Melissa Floyd

I'm an environmental microbiologist. After a visit to Shetland, I fell down a rabbit hole of papers on the microbial ecology of peatlands and wetlands and discovered that you can use them to prevent methane emissions and create electricity - at the same time. I read more and more about the science and engineering and knew this was a sound idea, but I was a scientist, not an entrepreneur. The pandemic was the final kick in the pants, and I left my job at NASA to start this endeavor. We are almost at the point of no return, ecologically; I want to do what I can to make sure we don't get there yet.

We are developing two technologies that work in tandem. One will prevent the formation of methane (CH4), a greenhouse gas that is significantly more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) and that is currently underestimated in carbon budget estimates. We will also deploy a second innovative technology to precisely measure methane, providing a data-driven estimate of the scale of the problem the planet faces. Simultaneously, we will generate zero carbon electricity for small scale applications, including in the developing world.