Seaweed People

This one’s for you if you’re interested in biochar, giant kelp, marine engineering or thinking about seaweed as a solution to a whole lotta problems 🛠️🐟

Adam Brancher is a Principle Marine Surveyor and the  Founder of Southern Ocean Carbon, which aims to mitigate the impacts of climate change through responsible seaweed mariculture and bio-mitigation around aquaculture farms. We touch on a few of the exciting projects his team is working on across the world in this episode, such as growing seaweed for bioplastics, offshore mariculture, IMTA and seaweed for food security. 

You can find Adam and the Southern Ocean Carbon team here or on socials @southernoceancarbon. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

The Problem with Carbon Credits and Offsets Explained

Forensic carbon accounting with Catriona Herd (SP episode)

Opportunities and constraints for biochar technology in Australian agriculture: looking beyond carbon sequestration (research)

Kelpy (NSW-based seaweed bioplastic)

Nopla - bioplastics

Blue Economy CRC

Hydrodynamic energy attenuation by seaweed aquaculture

Developing Production Systems for Offshore Kelp Mariculture

A new paper on seaweed explores its potential in nourishing low- and middle-income nations

Some info on IMTA (integrated multi-trophic aquaculture)

Nutrition, Nitrogen & circular Systems with Pia Winberg (SP episode)

This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal/Wangal and Palawa Pakana lands. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ll love this ep, I just know it 🐋🦅 It’s for you if you like baby seahorses and migrating whales, if you live in a coastal city, if you've heard about wildlife coming back into harbours during lockdowns, or if you want to know what a strong collaboration between Indigenous knowledge-holders and western science looks like. 

Robert Cooley is a Senior Ranger and leader of the Gamay Rangers, an Indigenous ranger team that cares for country on Gamay, or Botany Bay in Sydney, and on conservation land owned by the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council. Since 2019, the Gamay Rangers team have been regenerating coastal habitats, protecting marine mammals, providing food for vulnerable people during Covid lockdowns and connecting local communities to Sea Country in Australia’s biggest city. 

You can find Robert and the Gamay Ranger team on socials @gamayrangers. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council

Operation Crayweed - restoring Sydney’s underwater forests 

Operation Posidonia - healing old wounds 

The Sydney Seahorse Project (SIMS/Gamay Rangers)

SIMS Aboriginal Youth Ranger Program 

Wild Sydney Harbour - citizen science project 

Country Needs People - what are Indigenous Rangers?

Indigenous Rangers (NIAA/gov)

This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal/Wangal and Bidjigal lands. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This one’s for you if you’re into craft beer, you like dreaming up side hustles with your mates, you’re a chef wanting to experiment with kelpy umami or if you’re an aspiring seaweed farmer 👩🏽‍🍳🍻

Cam Hines and Brent “Bert” Cross are two of the three founders of Southern Seagreens. From backgrounds in craft beer and naval diving, they joined forces with Rob (the third, a scientist) to learn how to farm native kelp at their sea farm down in Flinders, Victoria. They also hunt wakame, one of the world’s most invasive (yet delicious) species, and turning it all into tasty treats. 

You can find Cam & Bert via the Southern Greens website or socials. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

AU government Invasive pests: Wakame control plan 

Removing wakame (Parks Victoria)

Mountain Goat Beer

Aegir Divers (Bert’s company)

GreenWave - global network of regenerative ocean farmers

Reviving Tassie’s giant kelp with Mick Baron (SP companion episode about Macrocystis)

Seaweed babies & kelp farms with Jo Lane (another companion ep about Ecklonia radiata)

An Overview of the Alternative Use of Seaweeds to Produce Safe and Sustainable Bio-Packaging (Lomartire et al., 2022 - research)

This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal/Wangal land and Boon Wurrung/Bunurong land. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is maybe as seaweed peopley as it gets. It’s for you if you want an overview of kelp forests, if you’re into rewilding and sea otters, if you have any kind of skill and want to put it toward conserving kelp, if you like the sound of a national marine gardening day or if you just want to hear about a big, impressive enviro movement 🦦⚡

Aaron Eger is the Founder and Program Director of the Kelp Forest Alliance, a global community of kelp restoration and conservation practices and research that evolved from his PhD. He was the lead author of the first ever kelp restoration guidebook and facilitated the creation of the Kelp Forest Challenge, a global mission to protect and restore 4 million hectares of kelp forests by 2040.

You can find Aaron at UNSW or via the Kelp Forest Alliance website. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Support the show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.

Links to stuff we talk about: 

Sunshine Coast Canada - Kelp ecosystem restoration 

Sea Otters Have Helped Bolster California’s Kelp Forest

Global Rewilding Alliance

Global kelp forest restoration: past lessons, present status, and future directions (Eger et al., 2022)

The Race to Help Kelp (Google resource. Great pics)

Kelp Restoration Guidebook

Kelp Forest Challenge 

The Kelp Forest Challenge: A collaborative global movement to protect and restore 4 million hectares of kelp forests (open access)

Korean Kelp Restoration Manual

Gardening Marine Forests (film) - South Korean kelp restoration

Tips for finding & contacting your local MP (courtesy of the Australian Marine Conservation Society)

This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal/Wangal land. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ll enjoy this episode if you like games, if you’re a scientist looking for creative ways to communicate your research, if you run a music festival, a council or small town and want to know how to talk about climate change with your townsfolk 💥🦞

Boho Interactive is a collective of Australian artists, performers and game designers who create interactive games, performances and workshops in collaboration with research scientists. Their games have been played or experienced in theatres, festivals, museums, conferences and boardrooms. One such game is the urchin-lobster battle ‘Best Kelp Secrets’, commissioned by Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO.

Joining me today and playing the part of shiny lobster, is one part of this big creative team, Nathan Harrison. 

You can find Boho Interactive through their website. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Support the show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

Best Festival Ever - how to manage a disaster - Boho Interactive game

Invasive sea urchin endangers giant kelp forests - Invasive Species Council

CSIRO’s work protecting giant kelp 

Gamifying Government - Best Kelp Secrets commissioned by CSIRO

Playful Activism, game mechanics and participation - Coney (UK)

Evaluating a community of practice for Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing - Lowitja Institute

More on Boho’s work creating games with Indigenous communities 

Get Ready Singleton: Disaster Dash - game created with Singleton Council

This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal/Wangal and Bidjigal land. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This one’s for aspiring seaweed farmers, kelp ladies and anyone who loves a good seaweed yarn. We’re talking seaweed babies, wild harvesting, kelp farming and Ecklonia radiata - the backbone of the Great Southern Reef, also known as common kelp, leather kelp, thorny kelp or golden kelp. 

Jo Lane has a background in marine science and sustainable coastal environments and is the owner of Sea Health Products, which make small-batch kelp products on the South Coast of NSW. She’s currently working on asparagopsis in South Australia as a research Lead with the Australian Sustainable Seaweed Alliance and, as a quite serious “side hustle”, she’s also developing kelp seedstock with a view to get kelp farming and restoration projects happening in Australia.

You can find Jo on LinkedIn. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. 

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

Ecklonia radiata (Atlas of Living Australia)

The story of Betty, the original “Kelp Lady”

Marine heatwaves and proliferation of sea urchins on Australia’s east coast

Biology and Ecology of the Globally Significant Kelp Ecklonia radiata Ecklonia - covers reproductive cycle (Wernberg et al, 2019)

Churchill Fellowship

GreenWave - global network of regenerative ocean farmers

ASSA Research to optimise propagation and growth of the red seaweed Asparagopsis 

Homeward Bound leadership program for women in STEMM

This episode was recorded and produced between Gadigal/Wangal land and Kaurna land. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ooh yes, today we are hearing all about oysters! Also seascape restoration, pseudo-mangroves, living seawalls and a good use for potato chip waste. This one’s for you if you’ve heard that 85% of global oyster reefs are degraded thanks to humans (yikes) and if you want to know how we can help bring them back 🦪👻

Professor Melanie Bishop is a coastal ecologist who researches changes to temperate environments like coastal erosion, nutrient enrichment, and marine urban sprawl, as well as engineering interventions to create habitat and conserve native biodiversity in degraded seascapes. She co-leads the working group of the World Harbour Project as well as the Living Seawalls Program, which is part of the Project Restore with SIMS. 

You can find Melanie at Macquarie University. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. 

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

Living Seawalls with Project Restore 

The World Harbour Project

Biodiversity benefits of scaling up marine eco-engineering (research)

Variable effects of substrate colour and microtexture on sessile marine taxa in Australian estuaries (research)

New York’s Billion Oyster Project

Oyster reef restoration around the world (The Nature Conservancy)

Reef Builder - restoring oyster reefs in Australia 

BESE - potato waste products for oyster reef restoration

This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal/Wangal land in Eora. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Macrocystis! This episode is for you if you’ve always dreamt of diving through the iconic giant kelp forests in Tasmania, and if you’ve heard that they’ve completely disappeared, but also and if you want to hear about divers and scientists coming together to revive them 🏥🌱 

Mick Baron is an avid diver, storyteller, underwater videographer and co-owner of the Eaglehawk Dive Centre. He’s spent 20 years as a scientific observer on fishing vessels in sub-Antarctic to tropical waters, and is an active campaigner for local marine conservation. 

You can find Mick at the Eaglehawk Diver Centre. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. 

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

The Dead Sea - interactive feature/video by Guardian Australia

Satellite images track Tasmania’s declining kelp forests 

Multi-decadal decline in cover of giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera at the southern limit of its Australian range (research paper)

Sea urchins are wreaking havoc on Tasmania's kelp forests

Restoring Tasmania’s Giant Kelp forests 

Assessing the feasibility of restoring giant kelp forests in Tasmania (Report)

Kelp forest restoration in Australia (review paper)

Giant kelp forests on Tasman Peninsula survive marine heatwave (ABC)

A field guide to the marine invertebrates of South Australia - Karen Gowlett-Holmes (book)

Reviving Giants - short film by the Great Southern Reef Foundation

Kelp Forest Alliance 

KelpTracker 2.0 - record sightings in TAS, VIC & SA

This episode was recorded in teralina in lutruwita, aka Tasmania, and produced on Gadigal/Wangal land in Eora. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is for you if you like rivers and oceans, if you want to connect deeper to Sea Country, if you live in Australia or another country where the dominant narrative of the ocean stems from a colonial or European history. Maybe you’re an educator or social worker, or you just love being outside. 

Rhiannon Mitchell is a First Nations woman from the Mununjali people of Beaudesert, who grew up on Gumbaynggirr Country. She’s the founder of Saltwater Sistas, where she teaches young Aboriginal women and girls about the marine environment through mentoring, workshops, ocean conservation and connecting to Country. 

This episode briefly touches on land theft and other themes of colonisation, so please listen with care. 

You can find Rhiannon on socials @saltwater__sistas and read more about her programs and how you can get involved or support her work through her website. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. 

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

Yaam Gymbaynggirr Jagun - here is Gumbaynggirr Country

Coffs Harbour and District Local Aboriginal Land Council

Donate to Saltwater Sistas

NSW SharkSmart App

Plastic Collective

Lakota Peoples’ Law Project Action Centre - NoDAPL Campaign

The #NoDAPL movement was powerful, factual, and Indigenous-led

Aunty Bea Ballangarry

Common Ground - amplifying First Nations knowledge, cultures and stories

13-YARN - 24/7 crisis support for Indigenous Australians

This episode was made on Gadigal/Wangal land. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode’s for you if you’re into eating seaweed, sustainable food systems, Nitrogen cycles, how seaweed can heal burns, or if you’ve ever daydreamed about being a humble seaweed farmer 🧑‍🌾🍝

Dr Pia Winberg is a marine ecologist who’s spent the past 25 years working in and researching sustainable marine development. In her words, she’s now in “the business of growing seaweed in a circular economy” and her main focus is developing systems to sustainably cultivate seaweeds in Australia. She runs two companies, Phycohealth and Venus Shell Systems, she has seaweed products on the shelves of supermarkets and she’s currently testing the wound-healing properties of seaweed cells. 

You can find Pia at Phycohealth or Venus Shell Systems and on social media @phycohealth. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. 

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

People in Europe ate seaweed for thousands of years

Your Evidence Based Guide to Seaweed a Superfood for the Gut

Iodine levels in seaweed and seaweed products in Australia

The Australian prawn farm raising the bar for sustainable aquaculture (not Sri Lanka, but same vibe)

What Is the Nitrogen Cycle and Why Is It Key to Life?

More on how Pia’s seaweed factory works

The circular economy at sea 

Pia’s personal story of seaweed & wound healing 

Seaweed and skin - skincare and wound healin

Harvesting seaweed to make skin from the sea

This episode was recorded and made on Gadigal/Wangal land. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ll like this episode if you’re interested in artists working with seaweed or teaming up with scientists, what cuttlefish look like when they mate, kayaks that play music, or if you’ve ever wondered whether humans will one day be able to carry sharks in their wombs🦈🤰🏻

Lichen Kelp is an artist, performer and curator based in Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung country, in Naarm AKA Melbourne. Through her work she explores melting, subliming, fruiting, flowering, decomposing, bubbling and shapeshifting and she builds communities around marine algae and other ecologies. She also runs the Seaweed Appreciation Society International.

You can find Lichen on socials and read more about her projects on her website or at Seaweed Appreciation Society International (@seaweed_appreciation_society). You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. 

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

Giant Australian cuttlefish breeding 

Dylan Martorell

Kayak Orchestra recording courtesy of Dylan & Jannah Quill 

Luna Mrozik Gawler - CARRYKIN - an interspecies surrogacy program

Fossils of earliest organisms that had sex are a billion years old

Why does the sea smell like the sea?

A list of ocean-based fears

Lipstick kiss of death

Seaweed: A Global History by Kaori O'Conner

The Portable Seaweed Library

Where is the Australian climate movement’s solidarity with Palestine?

This episode was recorded and made on Gadigal/Wangal land. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you’re into biodiversity hotspots, temperate reef ecosystems, protecting your local beach, collective action, or if you’re working in the media or education sector then this episode is for you 📣🦑

Dr. Scott Bennett is a research scientist at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania. He was born and raised on Tassie’s reefs, and he’s studied kelp forest ecosystems across Australia. He currently leads the scientific advisory panel of the Great Southern Reef Foundation and along with a very impressive team of cinematographers, scientists and local communities, he’s putting the Great Southern Reef on the map and building the science and stories needed for its protection. 

You can find Scott at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (UTAS) or the Great Southern Reef Foundation. You can find and contact me at @seaweed.people. 

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

GSRF Instagram

The ‘Great Southern Reef’: social, ecological and economic value of Australia’s neglected kelp forests (research paper)

Senate inquiry recommends $55-million investment into managing long-spined sea urchin

Sea Urchin Removal as a Tool for Macroalgal Restoration: A Review on Removing “the Spiny Enemies” (research paper)

GSR Educators Hub

Marine heatwaves are damaging reef ecosystems around Australia

This episode was recorded and made on Gadigal/Wangal and muwinina land. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This one’s for you if you want to know the difference between seagrass and seaweed, how crayweed reproduces, what reforestation looks like, or if you’re dreaming of becoming a marine scientist and just need a good role model. 

Professor Adriana Verges has researched temperate ecosystems and coral reefs around the world. She leads a research program that looks into the impacts of climate change on seaweed forests and seagrass meadows and restoration approaches for their conservation. She also leads restoration projects Operation Crayweed and Operation Posidonia. 

You can find Adriana at the University of NSW and Sydney Institute of Marine Science. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. 

Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: 

Operation Crayweed @thetrueoperationcrayweed

Operation Posidonia @operationposidonia

Western Australian seagrass meadow found to be the world’s largest plant 

AlgaeBase: a global algal database of taxonomic, nomenclatural and distributional information

Michael Guiry (phycologist)

Melinda Coleman - kelp scientist and geneticist 

Asparagopsis compounds reduce methane production in ruminants 

Tropicalisation of temperate reefs: Implications for ecosystem functions and management actions (Adriana’s research)

Restoring WA seaweed after marine heatwaves

Sydney sewage stories 

Recycled wastewater could ease pressures on Sydney’s drinking water 

Project Restore (SIMS)

This episode was recorded and made on Gadigal/Wangal land. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This one’s for you if you want to know what seaweed is and what it does in the ecosystem, whether sinking it in the deep ocean is a legit climate change solution and what a kelp trumpet sounds like. 

Dr Catriona Hurd is a seaweed physiologist with nearly 30 years experience across the planet studying how seaweeds grow and how they cope with things like ocean acidification and climate change. Her recent research in forensic carbon accounting assesses the role that seaweeds can play in carbon sequestration. 

You can find Dr Catriona Hurd at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Science (UTAS). Thanks also to Ben Gerstein for lending me the sounds of his kelp trumpet, check out his music and sound work here. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. 

Some links to research and stories for your rabbit holes: 

Seaweed Ecology and Physiology (book)

Svalbard Global Seed Vault

24,000 year old Rotifers may enter the ecosystem once permafrost thaws 

46,000 year old worm found in Siberian permafrost

Regeneration of whole fertile plants from 30,000-y-old fruit tissue buried in Siberian permafrost

Underpinning the Development of Seaweed Biotechnology: Cryopreservation of Brown Algae (Saccharina latissima) Gametophytes

Forensic Carbon Accounting: Assessing the Role of Seaweeds in Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Removal (YouTube)

Forensic carbon accounting: Assessing the role of seaweeds for carbon sequestration (research paper)

Supplementing the diets of cows with Asparagopsis

Biofuels from algae: challenges and potential

Follow the Algae Brick Road to Plant-Based Buildings

Climate Recovery Institute 

This episode was recorded and made on Palawa Pakana & Gadigal/Wangal land. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.