Seaweed People

🧑‍🎨🪸 Welcome to Part 2 of our conversation for HoldFast! You’ll like this episode if you’re curious about the thermal tolerance of kelps and a vision of the near future from a molecular ecologist, if you want a first-hand account of managing a coral restoration project during a cyclone, if you find the word ‘hydrocommons’ alluring.  We hear from Leza Howie, Josephine Johnson and Nicole Ste...

🧑‍🎨🪸 This conversation is SO full of seaweed people I had to split it into two episodes. You’ll like this part if you’re interested in kelp forests growing on ancient coral beds, Scottish seaweed mythology, seaweed robots and trumpets, biobanking, how kelp makes babies, and stories about connecting scientists with communities and artists.  We hear from two artists - Leza Howie and Josephin...

This one’s for anyone who doesn’t want to consume 12kg of plastic, who likes the idea of the ocean as hero not victim, who’s into zines and radical imagination and composting. We're talking seaweed bioplastic! ♻️🦋 Sway is a material innovation company scaling compostable solutions for plastic made with seaweed. Their products match the performance of conventional plastics and plug into exist...

This one’s for early risers and big dreamers, those of you into kelp restoration fans, clothes made of seaweed, imagination, snorkelling and a fire by the beach, if you’re interested in how Indigenous Knowledges and ceremony can connect coastal communities, or how corporates can invest in the ocean 🌅🧶 Sea the Weed is a collaboration of organisations reforesting 70 hectares of once destroyed...

You are going to love this conversation if you dream of spending a week greeting the sun with seaweed songs, having seaweed baths after saunas, if you’re into seaweed tattoos, if you’re a student or a teacher and you wanna go diving, and generally if you’re into the idea of regenerating underwater forests 🤿🛀🏽 Along with the team and communities behind Love Rimurimu, Zoe Studd is doing all of th...

This episode is for you if you’re wondering what the heck is going on across the sea for our friends in the US, if you’re into citizen science and communities coming together to protect kelp, and if you like a good ocean film 🌊🍿 Blue Frontier is a US-based organisation that’s been building solution-oriented citizen engagement for 20 years, to protect oceans, coasts and the human and wild communi...

This one’s for you if you’re an artist, or a scientist or conservationist wanting to communicate in creative ways, and if you love the deep sea, the Great Barrier Reef and Kate Bush 🪸💎 Kirsty Kross is an eco-feminist Australian artist currently based in Oslo, Norway, whose work is about finding ways of connecting diverse groups with issues around the climate crisis, often by embodying a vibrant...

This one’s for you if you’re into nudibranchs, sea grapes, solar power, butterflies, citizen science and tongues with teeth(!?) 🌱 🐛 Nicole Mertens is a marine ecologist with a passion for sacoglossans, a science communicator and the Nature Stewards Coordinator with the Victorian National Parks Association. Nicole is passionate about using citizen science as a platform for evidence-based conserva...

This one’s for you if you’re interested in how a class action case works, if you wanna hear about seaweed farmers taking on big oil companies or if you’re also a soil person  🌱 🪱 Freya Mulvey is a senior lawyer and environmental enthusiast who is passionate about implementing better soil and landscape regulation into policy and legal frameworks. She is a 2023 Churchill Fellow and a 2017 rec...

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 (now known as Next Wave Seaweed), which aims to mitigate the impacts of climate change through responsible seaweed mariculture and bio-mitigation around a...

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...

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 ho...

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 Ke...

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 co...

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 He...

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 e...

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 spen...

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 g...

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 ec...

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...

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 ecosys...

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 chang...

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....

What is this!? This is a podcast about seaweed and people. It's for you if you're interested in what seaweed is, how it works in ecosystems, whether it's a legit carbon sequestration solution, growing it for food, biodiversity and reforestation, etc etc. There'll also be some good seaweed-adjacent stuff. Subscribe for updates or support the podcast at quietnightin.substack.com . You can find and c...