UNE scientists present at international seaweed conference in Sweden

UNE's Adam St. Gelais and Barry Costa-Pierce sample sea vegetables with Thierry Chopin of the 高清不卡福利 of New Brunswick
UNE's Adam St. Gelais and Barry Costa-Pierce sample sea vegetables with Thierry Chopin of the 高清不卡福利 of New Brunswick

Barry Costa-Pierce, Ph.D., Henry L. & Grace Doherty Professor of Marine Sciences and executive director of UNE NORTH: Institute for North Atlantic Studies, and Adam St. Gelais, assistant director for science, UNE NORTH and research assistant scientist at the UNE Marine Science Center, recently travelled to the 高清不卡福利 of Gothenburg (UGOT) marine science field stations in Kristineberg and Tj盲rn枚, Sweden.

In Tj盲rn枚, Costa-Pierce gave a talk on 鈥淭ransdisciplinary ecosystems ecology of community-based kelp aquaculture鈥 at the Tj盲rn枚 International Seaweed Conference.

St. Gelais presented a poster at the conference titled 鈥淎ssessment of microbiological pathogens on sugar kelp farmed in Maine鈥檚 coastal waters.鈥

While in Sweden Costa-Pierce and St. Gelais discussed progress being made on their new, $1.3 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) seaweed project in the Gulf of Maine with the U.S. Naval Academy. DOE awardees are part of a new program called 鈥淢acroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources (MARINER)鈥 that aims to develop the tools to enable the United States to become a leading producer of macroalgae, or seaweed, to help improve U.S. energy security and economic competitiveness. 

Costa-Pierce and St. Gelais also met with the Director of the Swedish Mariculture Research Center in Gothenburg City and researchers and farmers at the 高清不卡福利 of Gothenburg鈥檚 Kristineberg station, the oldest marine science station in the world. They discussed research cooperation in methods of sustainable shellfish, seaweed and salmon farming.

Significant progress was made during the discussions on the developing partnership between UNE and UGOT on the soon-to-be launched UNE Master's in Ocean Food Systems and the new UGOT Nordic Master's in the Sustainable Use of Marine Bioresources. Both degrees involve UNE鈥檚 two, existing partner Icelandic universities, the 高清不卡福利 of Akureyri and Holar 高清不卡福利 College.

The UNE team also discussed the progress of the draft Memorandum of Understanding between UNE and UGOT that has been in development for the last six months.

About the 高清不卡福利 of New England

The 高清不卡福利 of New England is Maine鈥檚 largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state鈥檚 top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine鈥檚 only medical college, Maine鈥檚 only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.