Dr. Taryn Mead is a sustainability, innovation and management scholar whose research focuses on sustainable product design and development, systems of production and consumption, sustainability-oriented innovation, circular economy and biomimicry. She also has expertise in creativity for sustainability among business, design and engineering professionals in interdisciplinary settings. Before pursuing her PhD, Taryn worked as a design consultant, sustainability strategist and certified biomimicry professional consulting with corporate, municipal and non-profit organizations. As a practitioner of nature-inspired innovation, she consulted on domestic and international projects ranging from new product design to industrial ecosystems, to new cities for two million inhabitants. She has also served as the lead facilitator for numerous workshops with corporate clients and has lectured for large audiences. When not engaging in scholarly work, she can usually be found engaging in nature.
Academic Experience
• Assistant Professor - Sustainable Design, School of Architecture and Design, IE University, Spain, 2023 - Present
• Assistant Professor and Product Track Coordinator, Outdoor Industry MBA, School of Business, Western Colorado University (WCU), United States, 2017 - 2024
• Teaching Assistant Professor Product Design, Innovation, and Management Walton College of Business, Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Venture Innovation, University of Arkansas, United States, 2022 - 2023
• Graduate Faculty – Sustainable Design Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Graduate Faculty, Sustainable Design, United States, 2017 - 2020
• Marie Curie Early Career Researcher, Innovation for Sustainability University of Exeter, UK, 2013 - 2017
Academic Background
• PhD in Management Studies, “Factors Influencing the Adoption of Nature Inspired Innovation in Multinational Corporations”, School of Business, University of Exeter, UK, 2017
• Bachelor of Arts, Environmental Biology and Environmental Studies Cum Laude, Western Colorado University, Gunnison, CO, 2006
Corporate Experience
• Founder & Biomimicry Strategist, Symbiosis 2012 - Present
• ICELab@Western Colorado University, Accelerator Coordinator, 2017
• Director of Consulting, Biomimicry 3.8, 2011 - 2012
• Biologist at the Design Table, Biomimicry Guild, 2007 - 2011
• Design Assistant, Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies, California Polytechnic University-Pomona, USA, 2003
Selected publications
• Mead, T., Jeanrenaud, S. y Bessant, J. (2022). “Sustainability Oriented Innovation Narratives: Learning from Nature Inspired Innovation”. Journal of Cleaner Production. 344
• Mead, T., Pietsch, C., Matthew, V., Lipkin-Moore, S., Metzger, E., Avdeev, I. V. y Ruzycki, N. J. (2021). “Leveraging a Community of Practice to Build Faculty Resilience and Support Innovations in Teaching during a Time of Crisis”. Sustainability .13(18)
• Borden, D. S. y Mead, T. (2022). “Rural Small and Medium Enterprises: Maximising the Value of Benefit Corporation Certification”. InternationalJournal of Rural Management.
• Landrum, N. y Mead, T. (2022). “Sustainability in the Biom*” En Muthu, S. y Palombini, F. (Eds.), Bionics and Sustainable Design. Springer Nature Publications.
