David Baum is a Professor of Botany and a Fellow in the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. He is also principal investigator on a multimillion dollar, multi-institution NASA research grant which aims to develop a new strategy for studying origins of life in the lab. Baum’s background is in evolutionary biology, plant biology, and genetics. About five years ago, after some 20 years giving lectures in biology classes on the origin of life, he initiated a new theoretical and laboratory-based research program on the topic .