Blue + Green Session 1: What is Regenerative Aquaculture?

Date: Thursday, May 6^th, 4:00 PM

To register, click here.

Sponsors:

Speakers:

Janet E. Kübler, Ph.D., Biology Department, California State University Northridge

Janet Kübler is a marine biologist with decades of experience working with seaweeds. My research program has two main currents. One addresses climate change and disturbance effects on primary producers, focusing on scope for resilience. Working at the interface of the biotic and abiotic, this research addresses how biogeochemical effects on algae and aquatic plants can emerge in ecosystem level patterns. The other employs the complex life cycles, common in algae, to test hypotheses about relative adaptive advantages and ecological consequences of reproductive patterns. I also explore the transfer of biological knowledge to applications through biologically inspired design collaborations and regenerative aquaculture.

Finian Makepeace, Co-founder, Policy Director & Lead Educator, Kiss the Ground

Finian Makepeace is the co-founder of Kiss the Ground and a renowned presenter, media creator, and thought leader in the field of regenerative agriculture and soil health. His dedication to Kiss the Ground’s mission of “inspiring participation in global regeneration, starting with soil”, has motivated him to develop training programs, workshops, and talks designed to empower people around the world to become confident advocates for this growing movement. https://kisstheground.com/

Charles Yarish, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Connecticut

Dr. Charlie Yarish is an extensively published, award-winning Professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut (UCONN). Among his many achievements, he is credited for his involvement in developing the global and North American seaweed aquaculture industries and establishing the internationally recognized Seaweed Marine Biotechnology Laboratory at UCONN.

Charlie spent years studying why seaweeds occur where they occur, including how light, temperature, salinity, and nutrients impact seaweed physiology. In the 1980s, Charlie collaborated with a multi-national group of scientists and engineers to develop and define multispecies ocean farming or Integrated Multi-trophic Aquaculture (IMTA), which we now call regenerative ocean farming. In 1992, Charlie organized a team of scientists in New England to study the red seaweed called nori. They found vast differences in physiology, cytology and the DNA of the nori in the U.S, which lead to many publications on the aquaculture of nori. In 2010, his colleagues published a paper that ultimately spearheaded the effort to revise the genus of Porphyra (also known as nori) into 147 different species in up to 11 different genera. https://eeb.uconn.edu/

Moderator:

Val Zavala 

Val Zavala was anchor and executive producer of “SoCal Connected” until her retirement in 2018. Since joining KCET in 1987 she has won 15 L.A. Emmy awards. She has covered major issues in southern California politics, education, government, demographics, healthcare, environment, economy, and arts and culture. She has been honored for her community service by numerous organizations including the California Chicano News Media Association, and Hispanic Americans for Fairness in Media among others. She was a John S. Knight Journalism fellow at Stanford University in 1993. She received her M.A. in journalism from American University and her B.A. in Latin American Studies from Yale University. https://www.kcet.org/people/val-zavala