In 2009 he initiated SEAD (Space Ecologies Art and Design), an international transdisciplinary network of artists, scientists, engineers and activists. Its goal is to reshape the future through critical inquiry and hands-on experimentation. To achieve this, SEAD develops paradigm-shifting projects in which ecology, technology and community are integrated in novel synergistic ways. Biomodd and Seeker are the two most well-known SEAD projects. From 2011-2012 Vermeulen was a member of the European Space Agency Topical Team Arts & Science (ETTAS), and in 2013 he was Crew Commander of the NASA-funded HI-SEAS Mars mission simulation in Hawai’i.
His space-related work led him to start PhD research at Delft University of Technology, working on bio-inspired concepts for interstellar travel. Vermeulen has been (guest) faculty at several universities in Europe, the US, and Southeast Asia. In 2013 he became a TED Senior Fellow. His TED Talk about HI-SEAS and Seeker has garnered over a million views.