Olivier Hamant is a researcher at INRAE, France who studies the contribution of mechanical forces in shaping plants using cell biology, biophysics and modeling approaches. He notably revealed how plants use forces in their tissues to perceive and monitor their own growth and shape in a form of proprioception. From this work, a number of principles can be derived, notably relating to the question of robustness, i.e. the ability of plants to handle environmental fluctuations or their own variability in growth. Through the concept of suboptimality, he explores how living organisms usually favor long-term adaptability over short-term efficiency at all scales, from molecules in a cell to individuals in a population. This echoes many anthropocenic debates he is actively involved in, either through education (Anthropocene Curriculum Lyon) Lyon anthropocene campus) or art and science projects in the frame of the Michel Serres institute. In 2021 he will publish a book on suboptimality (Éditions Odile Jacob). In addition to his researcher position in Lyon, he is also associated with to Cambridge and Kumamoto universities. Hamant is the editor-in-chief of a new journal, Quantitative Plant Biology, which promotes systems thinking and citizen science in plant biology.