Bioneer (root: "biological pioneer") is a

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

coined by filmmaker, author and eco-activist Kenny Ausubel.Utne Reader. (1999 Mar-Apr)
"15 Ideas That Could Shake the World"
. ''

Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne''; , ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

''. Retrieved on 2007-03-20. According to ''

'', a bioneer is "a biological pioneer, an ecological inventor who's got an elegant and often simple set of solutions for environmental conundrums." As coined by Ausubel, the term describes individuals and groups working in diverse disciplines who have crafted creative solutions to various

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

and socio-cultural problems rooted in shared core values, including whole systems, ( anticipatory) thinking, a view of all life as interdependent, and sustainable mutual aid. The greatest use of the term since its coinage has been in relation to the annual

Bioneers Bioneers, under its parent foundation, Collective Heritage Institute, is a non-profit environmental and social justice advocacy organization based in New Mexico and California. Founded in 1990, the organization's philosophy says that there is val ...

conference founded by Ausubel and his wife

Nina Simons Nina Simons (born January 10, 1957, in Manhattan, NY) is a co-founder & co-CEO of Bioneers, and an organizer of women's leadership retreats and trainings. Her book ''Nature, Culture & the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership'' (2018) received t ...

and held annually in San Rafael,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and its participants. However, in recent years the term or derivations has seen increasing use independent of the Bioneers organization, suggesting an increasing acceptance of the term in popular usage. For example, a 2005 article on the use and manufacture of

biodiesel Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats. The roots of bi ...

fuels in northern

was titled "Bioneering Biodiesel." An April 2007 symposium and art exhibition at

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

focused on food production, consumption, and distribution was called "Bioneering: Hybrid Investigations of Food."

Other usage

''Bioneer'' and its derivations have also been used in relationship to

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

. This usage of the term appears to come from independent coinages based on a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of "biotechnology" and "engineering" and/or "pioneering". The

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

drug-screening company Bioneering Technologies describes itself as being focused on "the fusion between biotechnology, engineering, and pioneering services (hence, Bioneering)." Students in the Bachelor of Biotechnology Innovation program at

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

called themselves ''bioneers'' "as they regard themselves as pioneering a new era in biotechnology." The

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

-based international biotechnology firm Korea Biotech, Inc., founded in 1992, changed its name in 1996 to Bioneer Corporation. Bioneer A/S is the registered name of a Danish CRO/

CDMO A contract manufacturing organization (CMO), more recently referred to (and more commonly used now) as a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) to avoid the acronym confusion of Chief Medical Officer or Clinical Monitoring Organ ...

offering research and development services to pharma and biotech companies. Bioneer is also a term adopted by those who visit the Biomatrix website for self-improvement. This site and forum advocated the use of bodybuilding, training and technology to improve not only one's muscles (as would a bodybuilder) but also your other physical attributes such as speed, agility and intelligence. The fictional biotech company Bioneer Research appears in episode 7 season 8 of Quincy M.E., "Science for Sale" (1982), where it is used to illustrate Wall Streets influence on science.

Difference between usages

While Ausubel's coinage does not specifically refer to biotechnology, the second coinage of ''bioneer'' referring to biotechnology is clearly antithetical to the term as understood by Ausubel and those influenced by him and the

organization. In the book ''Nature's Operating Instructions: The True Biotechnologies'' (coedited with J. P. Harpignies), Ausubel has made a clear distinction between corporate

biotech Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists in the field are kn ...

, including

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

, which he decries, and what he has termed "true biotechnologies" based on

biomimicry Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from (''bios''), life, and μίμησις ('' mīm ...

, natural design, and the restoration of

natural capital Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. All of t ...

.Ausubel, Kenny, and J. P. Harpignies, eds. (2004) ''Nature's Operating Instructions: The True Biotechnologies''. The Bioneers Series. Sierra Club Books.

Notes

{{Wiktionary Environmentalism 1980s neologisms