Glad to see you on here now that I’ve finally figured out the backend of stuff. 
Like GameDungeon mentions, theory is often consulted on feature implementation, and is always welcome to recommending adjustments and features. Though the Microbe Stage is rounding out, so it’s good to be mindful of that. I also recommend joining the Discord if it is convenient to you, as that is where most of the day-to-day interactions go on. The development forums are more for larger topics, and activity can be very erratic.
I’ll list some things that stick out in my head which could be tasks you focus on. Like I mentioned in the email, work on Thrive is entirely volunteer-based, so don’t take these as official tasks at all. If you want to work on other things, you have all the freedom you want. However, new users tend to drift away because they don’t know where to start.
So if you’re looking for something immediate, perhaps these tasks could be viable:
Thriveopedia Editing - We have a “Thriveopedia” in game, which is where players can refer for scientific background and general information on processes, organelles, and other pieces of information. Specifically, proteins and organelles each have their own page in the Thriveopedia, but they aren’t really fleshed out. If you are interested in adding to this information, you can edit the developer wiki pages of these organelles and that information can find itself in game (Category:Organelles - Thrive Developer Wiki).
Potential for Worldbuilding - In reference to your background in science fiction, astrobiology, and origin-of-life research, I’d be interested to hear your input on if you think we can involve a bit more worldbuilding when it comes to our Thriveopedia. We have a section of the in-game encyclopedia which is focused on your world, but it’s pretty flat:
You’ve been involved in some pretty cool speculative evolution writing and have extensive knowledge of the topic, so I’m curious to see if you think there’s room for that here. Maybe we can add some spice and flair to the Thriveopedia.
Note that we’re a sandbox, procedural game, so we generally avoid pre-defined stories. And also note that this something I’ve just now thought of, so I don’t want to give you the impression that this is something that is of the upmost of priority to our roadmap and guarantee that it will be implemented. But you have a great background in this sort of stuff, so I’d be curious to get your perspective. Maybe if something interesting comes up, it could be a worthwhile feature to implement.
Beyond that, feel free to go whichever way you please. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Welcome to the development team!
Nice to meet you 