How Computational Chemistry Can Help Farms Grow Better Food - A Conversation With Dr. Sadegh Shokatian

Conversations on leadership, innovation and growing a better future

I founded Terramera to transform how food is grown and the economics of agriculture. But I’m not the only one who’s striving to change the world. In “The Core Question” I’m sharing my learnings and talking to purpose-driven leaders, entrepreneurs and change-makers about some of the most important questions we’re facing today. My goal is to start a conversation, so please read, comment and subscribe! This month…?

A Q&A With Dr. Sadegh Shokatian

Witnessing the development of our team at Terramera is always an inspiration, but it’s a real joy to see people grow within the company. Dr. Sadegh Shokatian started with us as a machine learning engineer in 2019. Now, he is Vice President of Chemistry and Bioinformatics. Anyone who has worked with Sadegh can vouch for his role as a motivating force. With over a decade of experience in computational chemistry and advanced spectroscopy, he is leading our team of computational chemists and engineers in creating proprietary soil health measurement technologies for farmers and ranchers. His leadership will help us deliver high impact soil health technologies that will transform how food is grown. As if that weren’t ambitious enough, Sadegh also serves as a Member of the Board of Directors for Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster. Recently, Sadegh shared his thoughts on what he’s learned about leadership, his passion for computational chemistry and what’s exciting him most about his work right now. Here’s some of our conversation:

Can you share a bit about your journey? Why did you decide to study chemistry?? I think of my academic and professional life as a series of fortunate events.?

When I was planning for university in high school, chemistry wasn’t my top pick. I was good at it, but I was more interested in mathematics and biology. In fact, I only chose to focus on chemistry because it was more convenient – the university was closer compared to where I’d have to go for other majors!

Then, in grad school, despite not having studied spectroscopy, I got lucky when a professor in my department referred me to my future supervisor, landing me a position in spectroscopy for my PhD. My academic luck carried over to my personal life: I met my wife during a FIFA game in the lab because she happened to be in the same research group as my roommate!?

Later, when I interviewed at Terramera for a position in machine learning, there was fierce competition for the role. I’m told I got the job because I was a bit more friendly with the hiring team. When I look back, I notice this sequence of fortunate events (and surely many more) have led me to where I am today.

What’s one thing you wish more people knew about chemistry? The power of computational chemistry - a branch of chemistry that uses computer simulation to help solve complex chemical problems. Scientists can examine many things behind the desk before getting started in the lab.?

Tech and nature are sometimes set up as opposites. What’s your approach to using machine learning to augment nature’s solutions? There’s an image that comes to mind for me when I think about our approach to nature. It shows several people, blindfolded, all around an elephant, trying to explain their experience. The people’s conclusions depend on where they are in relation to the elephant – the person at the tail thinks he’s found a rope, the person near the leg is convinced it’s a tree trunk, and the person who’s facing the elephant is sure that the elephant’s tusk is a spear.?

Think of nature as the elephant, and the blindfolded people as the scientists who are trying to understand parts of this massive whole without having a full grasp of what it is they’re dealing with. The conclusions we come to depend on where we’re approaching from.???

Fortunately for us, tech is a helpful tool in gaining a better understanding of the overall picture. We aren’t limited to what we feel and see when approaching massive problems anymore. With tech (and especially machine learning), we can find patterns and correlations among observations and make consistent predictions based on these results.?

However, it’s not a panacea. A model in the case of the elephant problem, for example, could easily make a mistake and predict something completely wrong. That’s why it’s so important we train our tech stacks properly and treat our results mindfully, with a grain of salt.??

What has been the biggest challenge in developing this new soil health measurement technology? Communication! We have a great tech team capable of understanding the technology and developing the best possible version of it. The big challenge, however, is communicating the technology to non-technical audiences. The words we choose to describe and discuss the technology, in my opinion, are just as important as developing the technology. Making the wrong choices could easily derail the conversation into topics outside of our goal, approach, and achievements.

You’ve been hard at work developing a piece of groundbreaking technology. What was your biggest learning? I have to say I’ve learned a lot about leadership and conflict management. Our team is easily one of the most advanced technical teams you could possibly get, but to get the team onboard and comfortable with exploring a new realm of research and development, I had to learn a lot. Luckily, I was not alone. I had a lot of help from Terramera’s wonderful leaders including Travis Good, Salar Shemirani, Vince Clerc, Karn Manhas and Kim Haakstad as well as every single member of our engineering team!??

You’ve held several roles at Terramera, and now you’re leading a sizeable team. What’s one piece of leadership advice you wish you knew when you started your role as Vice President of Chemistry and Bioinformatics? Trust your team. Academic life teaches micromanagement to make sure no one makes a mistake. But, working in several roles at Terramera, and thanks to our company’s culture, I have realized that as long as we learn from our mistakes, the more perspectives and approaches we consider, the better our final product will be. My approach is to trust my team and let them define their path to success while giving them a lot of context on what we want to achieve.?

What role will technology play in making healthier soil (and helping farmers ensure greater yields and profits)? There is a famous quote from Russell L. Ackoff: “We fail more often because we solve the wrong problem than because we get the wrong solution to the right problem.” I think properly understanding the problem is the main step toward solving it.?

Technology can be a significant help. We know the healthier the soil, the more impact it will have on our environment, climate, and food. But what defines a healthy soil? Being able to characterize and quantify soil properties is the first step toward defining a healthy soil’s properties. That’s what we’re focused on doing at Terramera.?

Where do you find optimism in the face of climate change? Humans seem to be the smartest creatures on Earth. So, it strikes me that we should be able to find solutions to the climate crisis – if we put our heads together!?

Take the recent example of COVID-19. The lockdowns and physical distancing felt like they’d never end, but just think how quickly it has become a virus we can mitigate with vaccines and precautions.

Right now, climate change looks like something that will affect our day-to-day life in a much more significant way than even the pandemic. But by increasing awareness, I’m sure we can prevent the spread of its worst effects as well, and potentially cure it some day. We just need to all work together!

Terramera is building technology and solutions to transform agriculture and address some of the world’s more pressing problems around food security and climate change. How does this shared sense of purpose motivate you or inform your work? The fact that some day in the future, I can have a better understanding of my food intake and whether producing this food has had a positive (or negative) impact on the environment and climate, motivates me every day!

What are two activities or routines essential to your personal well-being that you can’t do without? Soccer and walking. Walking calms me down and soccer inspires me and keeps me happy. It’s incredible how quickly my stress disappears after a soccer session or a 30-minute morning walk.?

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Thank you, Sadegh, for sharing your insights and experience. We’re so thrilled to have you on our team. The elephant analogy is so helpful – our understanding depends on the limits of our perspective, what we can see and where we’re coming from. It’s important to harness the power of the technological tools we have as well as make the most of the great minds at our disposal, expand our perspective, and thereby the limits of what’s possible by thinking critically and mindfully about data. Indeed, that’s where we’ll find the best solutions!?

Additional Nutrients: What I’m Reading and Listening to

• How are G7 companies performing when it comes to Paris Agreement goals? A new report shows many – particularly those in North America and Asia – aren’t meeting targets, but there are signs things are moving in a greener direction.
• Nature has solutions to chemical pesticides: plant extracts, proteins and pheromones could help protect crops.
• Understanding Ag is seeing some well-deserved recognition! The firm has been inducted into the International Green Industry Hall of Fame for their work providing education and tools to improve soil health and farmer profits resulting in positive change. Congratulations to all involved!

Thanks again so much to Dr. Sadegh Shokatian for sharing his thoughts for this edition of the newsletter — and thanks to you for reading along. If you found The Core Question interesting, please subscribe and follow me on Linkedin ... or, better yet, share it with somebody you know!?