The National Seaweed Hub Webinar Series was created in response to stakeholder requests interested in learning about various uses of seaweeds ranging from innovative applications to Indigenous cultivation practices. Through the webinar series, the National Seaweed Hub will bring new and different topics related to seaweed aquaculture that are pertinent to the industry and nurture new ideas and connections between stakeholders and the presenters. The series is formatted somewhat differently to encourage a more interactive experience between participants and presenters with a longer Q & A period. There will be four webinars per year, with two in the winter/spring seasons and two in the fall season to avoid conflicts with the kelp farming season.
Hosts: Gabriela Bradt, New Hampshire Sea Grant (Lead), Barry Udelson, New York Sea Grant
Additional Webinar Dates and Speakers will be announced here.
For more information please contact Gabriela Bradt, NH Sea Grant or Barry Udelson, NY Sea Grant.
The Potential of Seaweeds for Carbon Dioxide Removal and Sequestration: Challenges in Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification
October 16, 2024
This webinar focused on the realities and challenges associated with using seaweed for carbon sequestration.
We were fortunate to be joined by Dr. Catriona Hurd, from the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania. Dr. Hurd is an eco-phycologist with over 30 years of expertise in the physiological responses of seaweed to environmental drivers such as light, temperature, water motion, dissolved inorganic carbon and nutrient supply. Her current research is focused on the impacts of ocean acidification, ocean warming and marine heat waves on seaweed metabolism, the development of seaweed aquaculture in Australia, and on assessing the role of seaweeds in marine Carbon Dioxide Removal and carbon sequestration.
Dr. Hurd graduated from Queen’s University in Belfast with a PhD in seaweed eco-physiology before conducting her post-doc work at the University of British Columbia. Following that she was at the University of Otago in New Zealand for 18 years before relocating to the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania where she has been for just over a decade. Dr. Hurd is well published with over 150 papers that have been cited over 13,000 times and she has advised and mentored more than 100 students who have graduated with varying levels of degrees. She also led the 2nd edition of the highly respected text-book Seaweed Ecology and Physiology (2014) which won the 2015 Phycological Society of America Gerald Prescott award.
Bioactive compounds from seaweeds for preventing metabolic diseases and their nutritional benefits
March 22, 2024
Our second webinar in the National Seaweed Hub Webinar Series featured Dr. Jinzeng Yang from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Dr. Yang presented on "Bioactive compounds from seaweeds for preventing metabolic diseases and their nutritional benefits", followed by a Q & A.
Dr. Jinzeng Yang is a professor of animal molecular genetics and chairman of the Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (Honolulu, Hawaii). He graduated from the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta) with a Ph.D. degree, and had postdoctoral training in the Laboratory of Animal Bioscience and Biotechnology of the USDA-ARS in Beltsville, Maryland. His laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has developed strong research experiences and technical expertise in muscle biology and transgenic animals through many years of bench and animal-based experiments, and established laboratory and animal facilities necessary for conducting biomedical and nutrition studies of locally produced specialty crops and fruits in animal models for human health and metabolic disease prevention. More recently, Dr. Yang’s lab has been working on providing experimental evidence of bioactive compounds from Hawaii specialty crops, fruits, and seaweeds for preventing metabolic diseases in animal model, and their nutrition benefits to human health.