Tyler Volk

Emeritus Professor of Biology & Environmental Studies

My research involves the global carbon cycle, world energy, the role of life and evolution in the biosphere, and general systems studies. Though I have published many papers and lectured around the globe, I am perhaps most proud of an integrative form of systems thinking developed in a number of books. In Metapatterns, I established general functional features of systems across scales. Some of these metapatterns come into play as I currently examine the challenge of planetary prosperity and the transitions in nations, for example: borders, centers, and nested parts, with attention to harmony with Earth’s biogeochemical cycles.

In Gaia’s Body, I developed the concept of the biosphere as a system of “organs” called biochemical guilds, and concluded by distinguishing humans as a special guild, because we have a unique, planetwide responsibility. In two related books (What Is Death and Death and Sex), I examined the intertwining of life and death on various scales, from bacteria to human psychology, which took me into covering frontier research in social psychology and consciousness. (Let me also note along these lines, an interest in religion, for example I ran a panel that assembled some of the world’s leading experts in religion and psychology of religion.)

In CO2 Rising, I brought the wonders and worries of the carbon cycle to the general public, with connections to global warming, energy consumption from present to future, interlocking trends with economics, and all woven into an analysis that drives home the ultimate challenge of reaching global prosperity without endangering climate. Most recently, in Quarks to Culture, I developed logic for twelve fundamental levels of merging and integration. The twelve end with the geopolitical state, which we are still in. Furthermore, numerous facts indicate that a new level of combination and integration might be emerging today.

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
News
Big-picture biologist Tyler Volk talks about his book on “How We Came to Be.”
METAPATTERNS
Series
What is a Sphere?
CO2 RISING
Series
Does my exhaled CO2 go into a leaf I can hold?

EDUCATION

Ph.D. Applied Science, Earth Systems Science, NYU - 1984
M.S. Applied Science, NYU - 1982
Bachelor’s Degree (Architecture), University of Michigan - 1971
 

Areas of Research/Interest

Environmental challenges to global prosperity, metapatterns and principles of form and function in systems, the carbon cycle and global change, the role of life in Earth dynamics, general systems, combogenesis and a grand sequence of fundamental levels from quarks to culture.
 

Books

TEACHING

Undergraduate Courses taught at NYU:

• Limits to the Earth: Issues in Human Ecology
• Environmental Systems Science
• Lessons from the Biosphere (A CORE Natural Science-II course)
• Whole Earth Science: The Global Environment
• Transdisciplinary Investigations across Multiple Evolutionary Scales (Collegiate Seminar, starting Spring, 2009)
• Cities and Their Environments
• Form and Function in Nature, Mind, and Culture (Freshman Honors Seminar)
• Metapatterns from Quarks to Culture (Advanced Honors Seminar; also run with modifications as Metapatterns in Nature, Mind, and Culture)

Graduate Courses taught at NYU

• Biocore II (in team)
• Earth Biology
• Plant Resources (in team)
• Science Survey (Journalism Dept., part of team)
• Fundamentals of Energy and Geophysical Science I
• Fundamentals of Energy and Geophysical Science II
• Atmospheres and Oceans I
• Atmospheres and Oceans II
• Advanced Oceanography I
• Physical Climatology
• Problems in Energy Science I
• Problems in Energy Science II
• Problems in Environmental Science I
• Problems in Environmental Science II
• Patterns in Space and Time (Graduate Program in Liberal Studies)

Awards

  • 2009 All-University Distinguished Teaching Award
  • 2008 The Golden Dozen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education
  • 2004 The Golden Dozen Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education

External Affiliations

Collaborative research on crop growth and development with Utah State University, NASA Ames Research Center, and NASA Kennedy Space Flight Center. Collaborations with many others, depending on topic.

Fellowships/Honors

Two NASA Summer Faculty fellowships at Ames Research Center and one at Johnson Space Center.

Selected Works

Publications in Archival Journals and Books
pdf versions of many of these, especially the more recent ones, can be accessed from my personal website: http://metapatterns.wikidot.com/members:tylervolk

Volk, T. It’s not the entropy you produce, rather, how you produce it, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 365, 1317-1322, 2010.

Volk, T. Thermodynamics and civilization: From ancient rivers to fossil fuel energy servants, Climatic Change, 95, 433-438, 2009.

T. Volk. How the biosphere works, in Gaia in Turmoil: Climate Change, Biodepletion, and Earth Ethics in an Age of Crisis (eds: E. Crist and B. Rinker), The MIT Press, 2009, 27-40.

Volk, T. and Bloom, J.W. The use of metapatterns for research into complex systems of teaching, learning, and schooling, Part I: Metapatterns in nature and culture, Complicity: The International Journal of Complexity and Education, 4, 25-43, 2007.

Bloom, J.W. and Volk, T. The use of metapatterns for research into complex systems of teaching, learning, and schooling, Part II: Applications, Complicity: The International Journal of Complexity and Education, 4, 45-68, 2007.

Volk, T., Bloom, J.W., and J. Richards. Toward a science of metapatterns: Building upon Bateson’s foundation, Kybernetes: The International Journal of Cybernetics, Systems, and Management Sciences, 36, 1070-1080, 2007.

Volk. T. The properties of organisms are not tunable parameters selected because they create maximum entropy production on the biosphere scale: A by-product framework in response to Kleidon, Climatic Change, 85, 251-258, 2007.

Volk, T. Real concerns, false gods. Nature, 440, 869-870, 2006. (Review of The Revenge of Gaia, by James Lovelock).

Volk, T. Hope for mind on earth. BioScience, 55, 1088-1090, 2005. (Review of Earth System Analysis for Sustainability, edited by Schellnhuber et al.)

Volk, T. Gaia is life in a wasteworld of by-products. In Scientists Debate Gaia, edited by S. H. Schneider et al., MIT Press, 27-36, 2004.

Schwartzman, D.W., and T. Volk. Does life drive disequilibrium in the biosphere? In Scientists Debate Gaia, edited by S. H. Schneider et al., MIT Press, 129-135, 2004.

Hoffert, M.I., et al., including T. Volk. Response letter, under heading of “Planning for Future Energy Resouces.” Science, 300, 582-583, 2003.

Volk, T. Natural selection, Gaia, and inadvertent by-products:
A reply to Lenton and Wilkinson's response. Climatic Change, 58, 13-19, 2003.

Volk, T. Seeing deeper into Gaia theory: A reply to Lovelock’s response. Climatic Change, 57, 5-7, 2003.

Volk, T. A river runs through it (A scientist’s brush with death renews his connection to all life). Science and Spirit, 14, 2 (Mar.-Apr.), 50-53, 2003.

Bloom, J.W. and Volk, T. The use of metapatterns as analytical, design, and conceptual frameworks. Pre-conference workshop, Annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching. Philadelphia. March 23, 2003. (Booklet, 72 pages.)

Cavazzoni, J., F. Tubiello, T. Volk, and O. Monje. Modeling the effect of diffuse light on canopy photosynthesis in controlled environments, ActaHorticulturae, 593, 39-46, 2002. Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Models for Plant Growth and Control in Greenhouses: Modeling for the 21st Century - Agronomic and Greenhouse Crop Models.

Hoffert, M.I., et al., including T. Volk. Advanced Technology Paths to Global Climate Stability: Energy for a Greenhouse Planet. Science, 298, 981-987, 2002.

Volk, T. Toward a future for Gaia theory. Climatic Change, 52, 423-430, 2002.

Volk, T. The cycling of materials by living systems. In Earth System Science (S. Guerzoni et al., eds.), Proceedings of International School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Universita degli Studi di Siena, 31-38, 2001.

Volk, T. Transformations between life and the global environment. In Earth System Science (S. Guerzoni et al., eds.), Proceedings of International School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Universita degli Studi di Siena, 39-42, 2001.

Volk, T., Forward to the book Writing the Natural Way (by Gabriele Rico), Tarcher/Putnam: New York, pp. xv-xvi, 2000.

Cavazonni, J., T. Volk, B. Bugbee, and T. Dougher, Phasic temperature control and photoperiod control for soybean using a modified Cropgro model, Life Support and Biosphere Science, 6, 273-278, 1999.

Tubiello, F.N., T. Mahato, T. Morton, J.W. Druitt, T. Volk, and B.D.V. Marino, Growing wheat in Biosphere 2 under elevated CO2: Observations and modeling, Ecological Engineering, 13, 273-286, 1999.

Volk, T., B. Bugbee, and F.N. Tubiello, Phasic temperature control appraised with the Ceres-wheat model, Life Support and Biosphere Science, 4, 49-54, 1997.

Tubiello, F.N., T. Volk, and B. Bugbee, Diffuse light and wheat radiation-use efficiency in a controlled environment, Life Support and Biosphere Science, 4, 77-85, 1997.

Cavazzoni, J., T. Volk, and G. Stutte, A modified Cropgro model for simulating soybean growth in controlled environments, Life Support and Biosphere Science, 4, 43-48, 1997.

Cavazzoni, J., and T. Volk, Assessing long-term impacts of increased crop productivity on atmospheric CO2, Energy Policy, 24, 403-412, 1996.

Volk, T., Considerations in miniaturizing simplified agro-ecosystems for advanced life support, Ecological Engineering, 6, 99-108, 1996.

Rampino, M. R. and T. Volk, Palaeozoic impact crater chain on the Earth?, Geophysical Research Letters, 23, 49-52, 1996.

Volk, T., B. Bugbee, and R.M. Wheeler, An approach to crop modeling with the energy cascade, Life Support and Biosphere Science, 1, 119-127, 1995.

Tubiello, F., C. Rosenzweig, and T. Volk, Interactions of CO2, temperature, and management practices: Simulations with a modified version of Ceres-wheat, Agricultural Systems, 49, 135-152, 1995.

Meleshko, G.I., Ye. Ya. Shepelev, M.M. Averner, and T. Volk, Biological Life Support Systems, Life Support and Habitability, Vol. 2 of Space Biology and Medicine, edited by F.M. Sulzman and A.M. Genin, AIAA, Washington, D.C., 357-394, 1994.

Volk, T., The soil's breath, Natural History, November, 48-54, 1994.

Schwartzman, D.W., S.N. Shore, T. Volk, and M. McMenamin, Self-organization of the earth's biosphere—geochemical or geophysiological?, Origins of Life and Evolution of the Biosphere, 24, 435-450, 1994.

Volk, T., Time to reset the great count, EOS, 75, 439, 1994.

Volk, T., Re-setting the great count, Nature, 370, 244, 1994.

Volk T. and R. Keeling, Summary of workshop on interannual variations in the carbon cycle, The Global Carbon Cycle, edited by M. Heimann, Springer-Verlag, 579-581, 1993.

Schwartzman, D., M. McMenamin, and T. Volk, Did surface temperatures constrain microbial evolution?, BioScience, 43, 390-393, 1993.

Volk, T., Comments on bioprocessing in space, Enzyme and Microbial Technology, 15, 899-900, 1993.

Volk, T., Cooling in the late Cenozoic, Scientific Correspondence, Nature, 361, 123, 1993.

Volk, T., When climate and life finally devolve, News and Views, Nature, 360, 707, 1992.

Barlow, C., and T. Volk, Gaia and evolutionary biology, BioScience, 42, 686-693, 1992.

Volk, T. and H. Cullingford, Crop growth and associated life support for a lunar farm, The Second Conference on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, edited by W. W. Mendell, NASA Publication CP-3166, 705 pp., 525-530, 1992.

Volk, T., and B. Bugbee, Modeling light and temperature effects on leaf emergence in wheat and barley, Crop Science, 31, 1218-1224, 1991.

Schwartzman, D. W., and T. Volk, Biotic enhancement of weathering and surface temperatures on Earth since the origin of life, Global and Planetary Change section of Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 90, 357-371, 1991.

Schwartzman, D. W., and T. Volk, Biotic enhancement of earth habitability, Encyclopedia of Earth System Science, Academic Press, Volume 1, 387-394, 1992.

Kump, L. R., and T. Volk, Gaia's garden and BLAG's greenhouse: Global biogeochemical climate regulation, Scientists on Gaia, edited by S. H. Schneider and P. J. Boston, MIT Press, 191-199, 1991.

Schwartzman, D. W., and T. Volk, Geophysiology and habitable zones around sun-like stars, Bioastronomy: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life—The Exploration Broadens, edited by J. Heidmann and M. J. Klein, Springer-Verlag, 155-162, 1991.

Caldeira, K., M. R. Rampino, T. Volk, and J. C. Zachos, Biogeochemical modeling at mass extinction boundaries: atmospheric carbon dioxide and ocean alkalinity at the K/T boundary, Extinction Events in Earth History, edited by E. G. Kauffman and O. H. Walliser, (Springer-Verlag, Berlin), 333-345, 1990.

Barlow, C., and T. Volk, Open living systems in a closed biosphere: A new paradox for the Gaia debate, BioSystems, 23, 371-384, 1990.

Bretherton, F. P., K. Bryan, and J. D. Woods, with contributors: J. Hanson, M. Hoffert, X. Jiang, S. Manabe, G. Meehl, S. C. B. Raper, D. Rind, M. Schlesinger, R. Stouffer, T. Volk, and T. M. L. Wigley, Time-dependent greenhouse-gas induced climate change, Climate Change: The IPCC Scientific Assessment, edited by J. T. Houghton, G. J. Jenkins, and J. J. Ephraums, for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge U. Press, Cambridge, 173-194, 1990.

Volk, T., Shaping Nature, The Sciences, vol. 30, 45-50, May/June 1990.

Volk, T., Effect of equatorial upwelling on atmospheric CO2 during the 1982-83 El Niño, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 3, 267-279, 1989.

Volk, T., and J. D. Rummel, The case for cellulose production on Mars, The Case For Mars III; Strategies for Exploration - Technical, Vol. 75, American Astronautical Society Science and Technology Series, pp. 87-94, 1989.

Volk, T., and R. Bacastow, The changing patterns of ∆pCO2 between ocean and atmosphere, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 3, 179-189, 1989.

Schwartzman, D. W., and T. Volk, Biotic enhancement of weathering and the habitability of Earth, Nature, 340, 457-460, 1989.

Volk, T., Sensitivity of climate and atmospheric CO2 to deep-ocean and shallow-ocean carbonate burial, Nature, 337, 637-640, 1989.

Volk, T., and J. D. Rummel, Transpiration during life cycle in controlled wheat growth, Advances in Space Research, 9, No. 8, (8)61-(8)64, 1989.

Volk, T., Effect on atmospheric CO2 from seasonal variations in the high latitude ocean, Advances in Space Research, 9, No. 8, (8)153-(8)157, 1989.

Volk, T., Rise of angiosperms as a factor in long-term climatic cooling, Geology, 17, 107-110, 1989.

Volk, T., and Z. Liu, Controls on CO2 sources and sinks in the earthscale surface ocean: temperature, nutrients, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2, 73-89, 1988.

Rampino, M. R., and T. Volk, Mass extinctions, atmospheric sulphur and climatic warming at the K/T boundary, Nature, 332, 63-65, 1988.

Volk, T., and J. D. Rummel, Mass balances for a biological life support system simulation model, Advances in Space Research, 7, No. 4, (4)141-(4)148, 1987.

Rummel, J. D., and T. Volk, A modular BLSS simulation model, Advances in Space Research, 7, No. 4, (4)59-(4)67, 1987.

Volk, T., Feedbacks between weathering and atmospheric CO2 over the last 100 million years, American Journal of Science, 287, 763-779, 1987.

Volk, T., Limitations on relating ocean surface chlorophyll to productivity, Advances in Space Research, Vol. 7, No. 2, (2)137-(2)140, 1987. (also, reprinted in Modeling in the Global Ocean Flux Study, U.S. GOFS Planning Report Number 4, U.S. GOFS Planning Office, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Mass., 1987.)

Gaffin, S. R., M. I. Hoffert, and T. Volk, Nonlinear coupling between surface temperature and ocean upwelling as an agent in historical climate variations, Journal of Geophysical Research, 91, 3944-3950, 1986.

Volk, T., and M. I. Hoffert, Ocean carbon pumps: analysis of relative strengths and efficiencies in ocean-driven atmospheric CO2 changes, in The Carbon Cycle and Atmospheric CO2: Natural Variations Archean to Present, edited by E. T. Sundquist and W. S. Broecker, pp. 99-110, Geophysical Monograph 32, American Geophysical Union, Wash., D.C., 1985.

Volk, T., Majesty of the sphere, The Sciences, vol. 25, 46-50, 1985.

Volk, T., Multi-property modeling of the marine biosphere in relation to global carbon and climate cycles, Ph. D. thesis (University Microfilms #84-21570), New York University, New York, 1984.

Volk, T., Performance of tornado wind energy conversion systems, Journal of Energy, 6, 348-350, 1982.