About Vi

Vi Girbino (she/they) is the co-executive director of EarthRM. Born of Italian, Irish, and Scottish heritage and raised in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio on ancestral Kaskaskia, Mississauga, and Erie lands, Vi grew up exploring the forests and ravines of the North Chagrin Reservation and finding solace in the natural world.

Vi completed their Bachelor of Science in Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology with a minor in Creative Writing at The Ohio State University, and completed their Master of Science in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science with a focus on agroforestry and Indigenous Microorganisms to support Hawaiian Food Sovereignty.

Vi began their scientific career at the University of Tasmania’s Natural Products lab, where they assisted in the discovery of two novel ent-labdane diterpenoid molecules from the native Tasmanian plant Dodonaea viscosa. They served as a biomedical engineering technician in a mesenchymal stem cell lab at the Lerner Research Institute division of the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, where they examined a novel drug’s ability to inhibit osteogenesis in human cells. Later on in their undergraduate program, Vi joined the Carter Bat Lab at The Ohio State University to study the formation of long-term social relationships in vampire bats. This work took them to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, where they helped raise and study a colony of vampire bats. After completing their undergraduate program, Vi took a job with Battelle Memorial Institute’s CLIA-certified BSL-2 COVID-19 testing facility as a microbiology technician. They quickly took on the additional responsibilities of SOP creation and sole management of the entire CLIA lab inventory and equipment system, and trained their replacement before beginning their master’s program in Hilo, Hawai’i.

In Hawai’i, Vi began to study agroforestry systems and the overlap of microbial science with agricultural health and Indigenous rights and knowledge. They have worked with the Hawai’i ‘Ulu Cooperative, Ancient Leaf Tea, and a small agrisolar startup called Pahoehoe LLC throughout their master’s program, studying traditional Hawaiian agriculture, contemporary agroforestry, and Korean Natural Farming Techniques. After completing their Masters, they were hired to work as an agroforestry technician and designer for OK Farms and have been continuing their education in the field.
 
 Since helping found Maui Bioremediation group after the Maui Wildfires in August of 2023, Vi has also been studying regenerative soil microscopy and the myriad types of bioremediation and the complicated interactions between them. They are proud to serve as a steward to pae ‘āina o Hawai’i (the Hawaiian Archepelago).
 
Outside of work, Vi enjoys blending teas, tending her garden, crafting poetry and fantasy worlds, and cooking food for her friends.