This summer Kelp Kulture is organizing a group of talks centered on Aquaculture/Mariculture of seaweeds. Our group of distinguished speakers come form various backgrounds not limited to: kelp farming, laboratory experimentation, open ocean farming, bi-valve/multi species mariculture and more! We hope to see you there!

Restorative Aquaculture with Shinnecock Kelp Farmers

Tuesday August 8th, 1-2 (PDT)

Meet Tela Troge, Director of Shinnecock Kelp Farmers, an Indigenous women-led collective, cultivating sugar kelp to restore Shinnecock Bay and produce an environmentally friendly soil amendment using skills passed down for 10,000 years. 

Photo by Giada Lubomirski

A New Paradigm for Offshore Macroalgae Farming

Thursday July 13th, 1-2 pm (PDT)

Michael Chambers Research Associate Professor, Aquaculture Specialist, University of New Hampshire School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, New Hampshire Sea Grant/Cooperative Extension

Michael has been advancing open ocean farming technologies for over 30 years in the US and Abroad. In the US, he has managed submerged cage culture projects in the Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii and the North Atlantic. In 2000, he took the role as Project Manager at the University of New Hampshire’s (UNH) Open Ocean Aquaculture Project and the Atlantic Marine Aquaculture Center. This project was in the forefront of developing biological, engineering, and environmental technologies for the commercialization of offshore aquaculture in the US.

Al Little Farther West

A Case for Restorative Ocean Farming in California

June 13th, 1-2 pm (PST)

Leslie Booher is the co-founder of Sunken Seaweed, a macroalgae farm based in San Diego and Humboldt, California.

A born and raised Californian, Leslie has been involved with ocean conservation for most of her life. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in 2015 from Cal Poly Humboldt, where she focused on marine ecology. Today she is proudly farming various seaweeds with her husband, Torre, mentoring budding aquaculturists, and enjoying motherhood with her 10 month old baby. 

A Site for Sori:

Utilizing Novel Aquaculture Techniques to test Bull Kelp (Nereocystis Luetkeana) Restoration techniques in a Northern California Sea Urchin Barren

May 23rd, 1-2 pm (PST)

Andrew Kim Lead Aquaculture Research Technician, Moss Landing Marine Labs

Given dramatic declines in bull kelp forests in northern California, restoration techniques such as “green gravel” or spore enhancement have been identified as potential solutions, however, the efficacy of these techniques remain largely untested. Novel laboratory techniques were developed and paired with a field study that was conducted between Summer 2021 and Fall 2022 to test a variety of restoration techniques at a site in Albion Cove in Mendocino County, CA. This talk will provide some context and discuss some of the challenges, failures and successes of our restoration work on the north coast.