Two ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ scientists join conversation about seaweed on β€˜Maine Calling’

Adam St. Gelais looks at a piece of kelp harvested from ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ's farm
Adam St. Gelais looks at a piece of kelp harvested from ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ's farm

Two scientists from ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ NORTH – The Institute for North Atlantic Studies participated in a show about seaweed on the radio show β€œMaine Calling” on Maine Public Radio. The show focused on the value of seaweed to Maine’s economy, the way the industry has grown and evolved over the years and the future of seaweed farming and harvesting.

Adam St. Gelais, assistant director for Science at ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ NORTH and assistant lecturer with the ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ School of Marine Programs, talked about how exciting it is as a scientist to explore the many questions we still have about farming seaweed.

β€œIf you look at an example from terrestrial agriculture, corn for example, humans have been growing corn for thousands of years,” St. Gelais said. β€œWe have a pretty good idea of the best way to do that. With growing something like kelp in Maine, it’s brand new. They’ve been doing it in other places for a long time, but farmers here are effectively growing almost a wild seaweed. It’s really one generation removed from wild plants.”

ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ is in the middle of a three-year research project funded with a $1.3 million grant from the Department of Energy to develop a tool for modeling open ocean seaweed farms. The project is led by Professor David Fredriksson of the U.S. Naval Academy and Professor Barry Costa-Pierce of ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ, in collaboration with Maine Marine Composites and Callentis Consulting Group.

Costa Pierce, the executive director of ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ NORTH and Henry L. & Grace Doherty professor of marine sciences, called into the show from Iceland where he was traveling with the students from ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ NORTH’s first cohort of Professional Science Masters students in Ocean Food Systems. He said we are only just beginning to see the seaweed bioproducts revolution worldwide, and that ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ and its partner universities in Iceland are studying the seaweed value chain and the variety of products beyond food that can be developed from it.

β€œA lot of what you see here in Iceland and our European partners at ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ NORTH, we’re seeing that they’re very far ahead in their thinking and their manufacturing, but they’re really interested in Maine,” said Costa-Pierce. β€œSo our objective is to see the next generation of these innovators, the young people we are training in masters and Ph.D.s, moving back and forth.”

About the ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ

The ΒιΆΉΒγΑΔ is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.