Seaweed People

• Saving the Sequoias of the Sea with Blue Frontier

  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 communities that depend on them. We’re joined by Blue Frontier’s David Helvarg and Natasha Benjamin to talk about people-powered conservation, the seaweed rebellion and their new film Sequoias of the Sea, which documents a community of fishermen, tribes and scientists working to restore a kelp habitat devastated by a warming climate.Find out more about Blue Frontier here and follow the film Sequoias of the Sea here. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: Sequoias of the Sea film (US)Blue Frontier - websiteRising Tide - Blue Frontier’s podcastJared Huffman (“Kelp Congressman”)White Rock film by the Great Southern Reef Foundation (Australia)The Australian Urchin Taskforce The Golden Shore: California’s Love Affair with the SeaKelp Forest ChallengeThe Seaweed RebellionThis episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal/Wangal Country. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Deep sea mining with the Coral Trout (Kirsty Kross)

  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 coral trout. We talk about deep sea mining, mesopotamian deities, which countries are two-tit countries and a seaside collaborative opera performance 📣🪼You can find Kirsty at her website or on Instagram @kirstykrosss. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.Deep sea mining links & stories touched on in this ep: Greenpeace AU petition to ban deep sea mining ahead of international ISA meeting in July 2025Pacific Blue petition to ban deep sea mining Blue Peril short film New battleground in critical minerals race is on Australia’s doorstepWhat We Know About Deep-Sea Mining — and What We Don’t Analysis of the implications of deep seabed mining for the global biodiversity framework and the sustainable development agenda (WWF report)Immortal jellyfish! National Treasure at Woollahra Gallery, RedleafThe Cult of Atargatis and Transgender PriestessesJack Halberstam on Queer Failure, Silly Archives and the WildThis episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal/Wangal Country. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Solar-powered seaweed-sucking seaslugs with Nicole Mertens

  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 conservation, and helping people connect with their local environment. You can find Nicole and the VNPA team here and on socials @vicnationalparks. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: Seaslug census Facebook group (Australia)iNaturalist - sacoglossans of Victoria (good pics)Nudibranchs - videos + freaky factsShaun the Sheep internet famous nudiKeep your head: the self-decapitating sea slugs that regrow their bodies – hearts and allSolar-powered sea slugs VNPA ReefWatch citizen science programsThis episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal/Wangal and Larrakia Country. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Seaweed farmers v. Big Oil & soil with Freya Mulvey

  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 recipient of the Australian Lawyers Alliance Civil Justice Award for her work on the Montara Oil Spill. She is also a published author of the book Ground Breaking: Soil Security and Climate Change. We're also making a podcast together! You can find Freya on LinkedIn, subscribe to SOIL on Spotify here, find us on socials @soilpodcast or read more at thesoilpodcast.com. Donate to our Pozible campaign by March 16th or via our website afterwards. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: Indonesian seaweed farmers win class action over one of Australia's largest oil spillsInterview with Greg PhelpsPhil Mulvey, Environmental Earth Sciences InternationalGround Breaking: Soil Security & Climate Change (the book Freya co-authored with Phil Mulvey)SOIL - Pozible campaignSoil on SpotifySeaweed People is completely independent. You can support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal/Wangal and Larrakia Country. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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• Biochar & the blue economy with Southern Ocean Carbon

  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 aquaculture farms. We touch on a few of the exciting projects his team is working on across the world in this episode, such as growing seaweed for bioplastics, offshore mariculture, IMTA and seaweed for food security. Since this ep was recorded SOC has rebranded to Next Wave Seaweed - you can find them here or on socials @nextwaveseaweed. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep: The Problem with Carbon Credits and Offsets ExplainedForensic carbon accounting with Catriona Herd (SP episode)Opportunities and constraints for biochar technology in Australian agriculture: looking beyond carbon sequestration (research)Kelpy (NSW-based seaweed bioplastic)Nopla - bioplasticsBlue Economy CRCHydrodynamic energy attenuation by seaweed aquacultureDeveloping Production Systems for Offshore Kelp MaricultureA new paper on seaweed explores its potential in nourishing low- and middle-income nationsSome info on IMTA (integrated multi-trophic aquaculture)Nutrition, Nitrogen & circular Systems with Pia Winberg (SP episode)This episode was recorded and produced on Gadigal/Wangal and Palawa Pakana lands. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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