An Interview with Joe Uehlein
Month: May 2022
Kelp is on the way: How one scientist is using seaweed and oysters to save our coastal waters and communities
For Michael Doall, the salty waters surrounding Long Island have always harbored exploration and entertainment. Growing up along the coast, Doall spent countless days fishing, surfing, and swimming at the beach, partly because his mother let him skip school on especially lovely spring afternoons. “From birth one of my passions has been the ocean,” Doall…
[Policy Brief] Regenerative Ocean Farming: A climate-forward venture for people and our planet
To: Danielle Blacklock, Director of the NOAA Fisheries Office of Aquaculture BLUF: To mitigate anthropogenic threats to seafood species and marine ecosystems, NOAA must employ their Aquaculture Opportunity Area (AOA) assessments to implement regenerative ocean farming (ROF) in all suitable coastal areas. ROF will (1) counter ocean acidification (OA), (2) prevent harmful algal blooms (HABs),…
Stewardship of Our Oceans Should Belong to the First Nations People
For Jen Rose Smith and her fellow dAXunhyuu (Eyak people), seaweed has always been a treasured tool and a tasty treat. The Eyak peoples have developed an array of uses for kelp, from using specially prepared kelp as an anti-crack finish for canoes, to pressing it into blocks for later consumption (2021). While this knowledge…
Green Dreams on Black Gold
Because the land must be defended / Or there will not be place for the revolution.-Internationalist Commune of Rojava Despite the threat of Syrian war crimes, Turkish ethnic cleansing, and the militant fanaticism of the Islamic State, the autonomous polyethnic community of Rojava makes environmentalism—alongside women’s liberation and direct democracy—central to its revolution in Northeast…
Toxic Car Culture in the Electric Age
Electric Cars have been the cornerstone of American science fiction and scientific fact for the last several decades, utterly inseparable from most visions of a cleaner, more sustainable future. This inclusion bears scrutiny. Transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) would undeniably reduce the use of fossil fuels, their pollution, and the dangerous petropolitics they encourage. But…
Memo: Cobalt Mining Regulation in DRC
Executive Summary Cobalt, mined primarily in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is critical for developing green technologies. Small and large-scale cobalt mining involves child labor, dangerous working conditions, environmental degradation, and human rights abuses. Current attempts to regulate DRC cobalt mining are inadequate. The UN should regulate cobalt mining under frameworks similar to…
Changing our minds, stomachs, and planet: The mission to make kelp mainstream
It is soothing to watch ocean waves lap the shoreline of Machiasport–a sleepy coastal town of less than 1,000 people, situated in Downeast Maine. If you look beyond the jagged coastline, vibrant buoys bob in synchrony, unsuspiciously supporting a sea crop that flourishes just feet below the surface: kelp. This particular ocean farm belongs to…
Blue Carbon: Protect Coastal Ecosystems in 2025 NDCs to Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change
Executive SummaryBlue carbon ecosystems – mangroves, seagrasses, saltmarshes, and macroalgae – are coastal ecosystems that sequester carbon and protect coastlines from sea level rise, storms, and erosion. In the face of climate change, it is essential to protect these ecosystems by (1) replanting coastal ecosystems, (2) including coastal ecosystems in nationally protected areas, and (3)…
Scorched and Submerged: The Effect of Climate Change on the World’s Water Cycle
In 2020, there was hell on Earth. Or at least it looked that way in Australia. Flames engulfed 186,000 square kilometers of once luscious and green forests home to both humans and a myriad of wildlife species (Bowler, 2020). These bushfires killed or displaced almost 3 billion animals (Vernick, 2020). In addition, more than 445…
