Farming Seaweed & Corals for a Better Tomorrow!
Due to recent changes in the CDC guidelines, this presentation will be held under the tent.
Special summer lecture series in collaboration with the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the Woodwell Climate Research Center.
Loretta Roberson and Scott Lindell have blue thumbs! These aquaculture pioneers are growing marine life that can fuel the blue economy and offer new model organisms for advancing ecological and biomedical science.
Loretta Roberson, Ph.D., Associate Scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory, is interested in how organisms respond to human impacts on coastal marine systems as well as ways to help mitigate or reduce those impacts. As more and more people move to coastal areas and global processes influence local conditions, more pressure is placed on these systems, often with devastating results. Her lab studies the use of macroalgae as biomass for sustainable biofuel production and also the mechanisms of calcification in corals.
Scott Lindell, a Research Specialist in marine farming at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is an Aquaculture Pioneer! He has dedicated the last 19 years to research and development of shellfish and seaweed farming. His projects include the development of methods for combining mussel and seaweed farming, establishing a program for sugar kelp, and establishing large-scale demonstration farms for kelp in Alaska and New England that may one day provide a significant resource for biofuels as well as food. He works with Loretta Roberson to develop tropical seaweed farming in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
The series will explore the synergies between art and science as a way to communicate important issues surrounding the environment and planetary health while inspiring change and stimulating action. In conjunction with two exhibitions at Highfield, SEAChange: Meditations on Sustainability and Turn the Tide: Courtney Mattison, participating artists and scientists will discuss a range of topics, including ocean acidification and coral bleaching, biofuels and the Blue Economy, mapping as an artform and a communication tool, plastics in the ocean, and art as means to amplify science and transform how we learn about the world.
ADMISSION IS FREE, PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Register online now or give us a call at 508-495-1878, ext. 2
