The Long Island Sound Seaweed Bioextraction Symposium

The Long Island Sound Seaweed Bioextraction Symposium, held virtually over two days from May 18-19, 2022, brought together speakers and participants to discuss opportunities and challenges for a bioextraction industry within Long Island Sound. Speakers included researchers, regulators, extension specialists and more from within the Sound, throughout New England, and Alaska and South Korea who presented on topics including cultivation, uses of harvested materials, regulations, and economics. 

Over 80 people, including a number of international participants, attended this Symposium, which was coordinated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and NEIWPCC. The Symposium highlighted the important work going on locally related to seaweed and seaweed bioextraction. The final session of the Symposium was an open forum for attendees to identify next steps for the Long Island Sound Study Bioextraction Initiative. 

Videos of the Symposium’s five sessions are available on YouTube. They can be accessed below along with other meeting materials. 

Long Island Sound Seaweed Symposium Agenda

Speaker Biographies

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Seaweed Symposium Recordings Available on YouTube

Recordings from the May 2022 Long Island Sound Seaweed Bioextraction Symposium:

Session (1/5)

Introduction and Current Bioextraction Research

Session 1 – An overview of research that is currently being done on bioextraction using seaweed, within the Sound and beyond.

View the introductory presentation by Kristen Kraseski, LISS bioextraction coordinator, here.

Session 1 Presenters:

• Jang K Kim, Ph.D, Incheon National University, Korea
• Schery Umanzor, Ph.D, University of Alaska
• Aaren Freeman, Ph.D, Adelphi University
• Mike Doall, SUNY Stony Brook University
• Christopher Gobler, PhD, SUNY Stony Brook University

Session 2 –  An overview of work being done to look at potential uses of bioextracted materials, and how bioextraction can be used as a training or workforce development tool in urban areas.

Session 2 Presenters:

• Samantha Garwin, Greenwave
• Nora Catlin, Ph.D, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County
• Kris Mielenhausen, Rocking the Boat

Session 3 –An overview of the current and/or potential future regulatory environment around seaweed, how commercial seaweed is being viewed around the Sound, and connections to bioextraction.

Session 3 Presenters:

• Wade Carden, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
• Michael Ciaramella, Ph.D, NYS Sea Grant
• Anoushka Concepcion, CT Sea Grant

Sessions 4/5 – An overview of economic projects going on in and around the Sound that will have implications for commercial seaweed production and seaweed bioextraction, and an open forum on how to move bioextraction forward within the Long Island Sound with input from all attendees.

Session 4 Presenters:

• Tammy Warner, Ph.D, Keene State College
• Richard Vogel, Ph.D, SUNY Farmingdale
• Steve Eddy, University of Maine Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research

Contact LIwaterquality@dec.ny.gov if you have questions or comments about the symposium.