At Larta Institute, our mission is simple: support endeavors that feed, fuel, and heal the world. As globalized problems become more complex, it is necessary to seek convergent solutions that are inter-sectional across multiple disciplines of science and technology.

How can you do your part on Earth Day? We tackle that question on our special Earth Day podcast with Litterati, an app for users to identify, collect, and Geo-tag the world’s litter.

How can you do your part on Earth Day? We tackle that question on our special Earth Day podcast with Litterati, an app for users to identify, collect, and geotag the world’s litter. Larta’s CEO and Founder, Rohit Shukla, and Senior Programs Manager, Sharon Senko, dive into conversation with Jeff Kirschner, CEO and Founder of Litterati on sustainability, crowdsourcing as a means of healing the world, and innovative solutions to the biggest problems that face our planet today.

Litterati is a current participant in our 2018 NSF-CAP cohort. As of today, Litterati has been featured on CNN, in Rolling Stone, TIME, National Geographic and on a TED Talk. Tune into our conversation with this successful startup that is healing the world, one litter pick up at a time.

Meet Mango Materials: a woman-founded, woman-led startup launched under IP protection from Stanford University.

Meet Mango Materials: a woman-founded, woman-led startup launched under IP protection from Stanford University. Mango Materials takes waste methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases, and turns the gas into a fully biodegradable polymer that serves as a viable plastic substitute. Larta Institute previously worked with Mango Materials in our National Science Foundation (NSF) commercialization acceleration program in 2012, and we featured them as a presenting company at our 2015 Ag Innovation Showcase. Hear how they were able to position themselves competitively in the noisy startup space and pivot as industry trends and consumer demands shifted. Anne Schauer-Gimenez of Mango Materials gives us a sneak peek into their new technology advances.

Making a case for science and the scientific method, Rohit Shukla urges us to make the distinction between opinion and fact.

Making a case for science and the scientific method, Rohit Shukla urges us to make the distinction between opinion and fact. Opinions are easy to come by in the age of social media, whereas scientific fact takes care investigation, hypothesis and proof and the attempt to disprove the proof – much to the chagrinned impatience of the public. The result is we abandon science for opinion when it’s convenient, and there’s nothing convenient about science, he argues.

When US science agencies face mistrust and cutbacks, federal grant recipients are put in the hot seat. It’s never before been so crucial for science entrepreneurs to tell their stories as innovators and problem-solvers.

When US science agencies face mistrust and cutbacks, federal grant recipients are put in the hot seat. It’s never before been so crucial for science entrepreneurs to tell their stories as innovators and problem-solvers. In this podcast, Rohit Shukla explains how to use the context of the day to help legislators and the public understand the importance of science innovation. In the interest of the future, we should all be a part of supporting innovation, but it starts with you, the innovator, telling your story.

Rohit Shukla, founder and CEO of Larta Institute, guides us through the recent history of climate change with a focus on California’s efforts and the solutions brought forth by federally funded American innovation.