Episodes

In this episode we talk to Jason Cole and Jorge Vega Matos, who are part of the 20-person strong team at C-Combinator, a public benefit corporation creating valuable circular economies based on Sargassum that can address regenerative agriculture, sustainable manufacturing, and scalable carbon sequestration. Jason Cole is the Executive VP for Innovation and Jorge Vega Matos is VP for Marketing & Communications. To them, Sargassum is a sign of disrupted ocean ecosystems. As Sargassum is thriving w...

In this episode we talk to Dr. Debbie Bartlett. She is Professor of Environmental Conservation at University of Greenwich. Her background is in consultancy, and she had experience of working for local authorities and government agencies before moving to full time employment in academia. Together with John Milledge who we interviewed in Episode 5 she works on a Darwin Plus Project to find Sustainable Solutions for Sargassum Inundations in the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI). As part of this, she con...

In this episode we talk to Javier Diaz. He is a Marine Biology Master student at University of Groningen, researching the importance of healthy fish nursery habitats in Curaçao, where he is from. He is also a board member and the research coordinator at Stichting Uniek Curaçao, a NGO group that works towards heightening the life quality of the local residents and among other things is removing Sargassum in parts of Curaçao. Sargassum to him is a nursery in the open water but becomes a problem wh...

Pour cet épisode, nous discutons avec le docteur Thierry Lebrun, médecin anesthésiste-réanimateur et référent Anesthésiste, au Centre Hospitalo-Universitaire de la Martinique (CHUM) Pierre Zobda Quitman, depuis sa fondation en 2018. Il habite en Martinique depuis plus de 40 ans et est engagé en tant que médecin et en tant que citoyen contre les dangers que peuvent représenter pour les riverains et les ramasseurs les sargasses échouées sur les rivages. Le docteur Thierry Lebrun est un lanceur d’a...

In this episode we talk to Dr. Ligia Collado-Vides. She is a professor at Florida International University and has been studying the ecology of marine macroalgae in the Caribbean and south Florida for the last 20 years. Sargassum is to her a large group of brown algae with more 350 species. Listen to the episode to hear about: - Information we are still missing about the life cycle of Sargassum natans and fluitans (4:30) - Differences between Sargassum blooms and other blooms (5:30) - Which S...

In this episode we talk to Dr. John Milledge, a member of Algal Biotechnology Research Group at the University of Greenwich. He is currently researching the potential exploitation of Genus Sargassum for biofuel and other products. Sargassum is to him a vibrant offshore ecosystem that causes economic challenges when it beaches. He is researching whether we can turn this golden tide into a golden opportunity. Listen to the episode to hear about: - Historic gathering of seaweed in the UK (3:30) -...

In this episode we talk to Emeritus Prof. Victor Smetacek, a biological oceanographer by training. Before retiring a few years ago he was leading the Pelagic Biology Section at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven. Victor once picked up a Sargassum fish while swimming in India thinking he was picking up Sargassum. For him Sargassum is an incredible algae that could be farmed in gyres to sequester carbon. Listen to the episode to hear about: - His encounter with the Sargassum fish (1:30) ...

En este episodio hablamos con la emprendedora mexicana Dayre Catzim que fundó junto a su marido la empresa Salgax para producir fertilizante, papel y otros productos a partir del sargazo recogido en las playas. Para Dayre sargazo es su forma de vida y una forma de generar trabajo y empleos. Para su pueblo, los mayas, es un recurso nuevo y parte de su trabajo ha sido enseñarle a la cultura maya la utilidad de las algas como recurso marino. Escucha el episodio completo para aprender sobre los si...

In this episode we talk to Vanessa Selk, the executive and artists director of Tout-Monde Art Foundation and former French diplomat. For Vanessa, Sargassum are living creatures that are having a dialog with us humans on an economic, ecological, historic and creative level. Listen to the episode to hear about: - The Caribbean folkloric story of the Soucouyant as portait in a painting by Edouard Duval-Carrié (2:30) - Sargassum is a living being that is holding a dialog with us on a economic and ...

In this episode we talk to Lowell Iporac, a PhD student at Florida International University. He is the communications manager of the International Sargassum Network (SargNet) listserv and primary manager of the citizen science project “Sargassum Watch”. Sargassum is a “hell of an accident” to Lowell. His PhD was focused on invertebrates in seagrass beds until Sargassum came along and now it is taking over his PhD. Listen to the episode to hear about: - Sargassum as Golden Rainforest in the Sarg...