Duckweed Labs
in the news. 

55th International Conference on Environmental Systems Wyndham Grand Rio Mar – Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, 12-16 July 2026.

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The International Conference on Environmental Systems was started in 1971 with a focus on the dissemination of technical and scientific information on topics related to humans living in space and working in extreme environments.  The conference includes technical sessions, panel discussions, student poster competition and published proceedings.

Duckweed Labs spoke at the National Space Society’s Space Settlement Summit at the University of Central Florida, presenting its Duckweed Protein Supplement Dispenser (DPSD) and Intelligent Growth Chamber for Precision Farming (IGCPF)—AI-enabled, sustainable food systems designed for long-duration space missions. The Summit convened leading scientists, engineers, and space visionaries focused on the future of space habitation. Duckweed Labs’ research and innovation in space biology was also featured in a published paper.

Duckweed Labs is harnessing duckweed’s potential through two integrated technologies: the Duckweed Protein Supplement Dispenser (DPSD), a compact bioreactor that cultivates, processes, and dispenses duckweed-based nutrition for astronauts, and the Intelligent Growth Chamber for Precision Farming (IGCPF), an AI-driven growth chamber that monitors and optimizes cultivation in real time. Together, DPSD and IGCPF form a closed-loop, adaptive system—an important step toward bioregenerative life support for long-duration missions.

Duckweed Labs received a second NASA award in 2025 to advance the Intelligent Growth Chamber for Precision Farming (IGCPF), building on early-2025 support for the Duckweed Protein Supplement Dispenser (DPSD). The IGCPF brings AI-driven sensing and real-time control to autonomous duckweed cultivation—moving the combined DPSD–IGCPF system closer to closed-loop, bioregenerative life support for long-duration missions.

Duckweed Labs began in 2024 when a newly formed team of emerging scientists and engineers was selected for NASA L’SPACE NPWEE and won 1st Prize, earning a NASA award to develop the Duckweed Protein Supplement Dispenser (DPSD) in 2025. With an initial $10,000 seed fund, the team launched Duckweed Labs to pioneer a compact, renewable space-food system that grows nutrient-dense duckweed for long-duration missions—advancing solutions for both space nutrition and resilient food systems on Earth.

Duckweed Labs is advancing its work through the standard NASA development process—each milestone bringing the project closer to a fully self-sufficient, closed-loop food and life-support system. The future of space exploration depends on intelligent ecosystems: living-learning farms that can sense, adapt, and sustain life. Duckweed Labs is turning that future into reality.