Sunanda Sharma is a PhD candidate in the Mediated Matter Group at the MIT Media Lab. She currently is leading projects regarding biological design for extreme environments, including space, and behavior in fabricating insects for bio-architecture. She is excited by thinking about grand challenges, such as understanding the origin of life, macroevolutionary and biogeographical patterns, and design on the very large spatial and temporal scales. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals as well as exhibited in high profile museums, and she appreciates a deeply interdisciplinary approach to collaboration and research.