Beyond biofuel: Advanced seaweed cultivation for marine biodiscovery and climate change mitigation

Beyond biofuel is a multi-disciplinary project which will test new methods for the cultivation of seaweed in Ireland. This project will utilise seaweed biomass to develop new biomedical products. Furthermore, it will also quantify the role of seaweed farming for mitigation of effects of climate change and ocean acidification and model its future impact in the North Atlantic.

The project is based at Trinity College Dublin and led by Dr. Nessa O’Connor, Zoology, Trinity College. The Beyond Biofuel team consists of Dr. Abby Gilson (post-doc), Dr. Matthias Schmid (post-doc), Simon Benson (PhD candidate), Francis Spellman (M.Res.), Tallulah Davey (research assistant), Grace Aspell (research assistant), and Vivienne Gao (research assistant).The project also includes several collaborators: Conor Buckley (Bioengineering, Trinity College); Trevor Hodkinson (Botany, Trinity College); Tasman Crowe, (University College Dublin)/ BiOrbic) and Jerry Murphy University College Cork/ MaREI).