Show Notes
This episode’s for you if you’re into eating seaweed, sustainable food systems, Nitrogen cycles, how seaweed can heal burns, or if you’ve ever daydreamed about being a humble seaweed farmer 🧑🌾🍝
Dr Pia Winberg is a marine ecologist who’s spent the past 25 years working in and researching sustainable marine development. In her words, she’s now in “the business of growing seaweed in a circular economy” and her main focus is developing systems to sustainably cultivate seaweeds in Australia. She runs two companies, Phycohealth and Venus Shell Systems, she has seaweed products on the shelves of supermarkets and she’s currently testing the wound-healing properties of seaweed cells.
You can find Pia at Phycohealth or Venus Shell Systems and on social media @phycohealth. Subscribe for updates or support the podcast at quietnightin.substack.com. You can find and contact me @seaweed.people. Donate to support the making of this show at buymeacoffee.com/seaweedpeople.
Links to research, projects and stories touched on in this ep:
People in Europe ate seaweed for thousands of years Your Evidence Based Guide to Seaweed a Superfood for the Gut Iodine levels in seaweed and seaweed products in Australia The Australian prawn farm raising the bar for sustainable aquaculture (not Sri Lanka, but same vibe) What Is the Nitrogen Cycle and Why Is It Key to Life? More on how Pia’s seaweed factory works The circular economy at sea Pia’s personal story of seaweed & wound healing Seaweed and skin - skincare and wound healin Harvesting seaweed to make skin from the sea
This episode was recorded and made on Gadigal/Wangal land. I acknowledge and pay respects to First Nations people and their elders past and present as the ongoing custodians of Sea, Land and Sky Country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Seaweed People
Ep 25 🐙🌱 In part 2 of this chat with marine ecologist Zoe Doubleday, we start by asking - is eating a giant cuttlefish OK?! Among many things, Zoe’s contributed research to cephalopod fisheries and octopus aquaculture. She shares insights into the opportunities and challenges of humans starting to farm a new animal for the first time, and whether Australia’s new seafood labeling regulations are enough.
Ep 24 🫧🦑 Giant cuttlefish! This episode’s for you if you’re a cephalopod head , if you’re curious how octopus or cuttlefish can change textures or colours, and if you want to know what it’ll take to list the world’s largest aggregation as a species of concern. We talk about the disappearance of the Spencer Gulf giant cuttlefish aggregation this year, and some of the solutions and interventions that have been tested to mitigate the impacts of the algal bloom in South Australia.
🧑🎨🪸 Welcome to Part 2 of our conversation for HoldFast! You’ll like this episode if you’re curious about the thermal tolerance of kelps and a vision of the near future from a molecular ecologist, if you want a first-hand account of managing a coral restoration project during a cyclone, if you find the word ‘hydrocommons’ alluring.
🧑🎨🪸 This conversation is SO full of seaweed people I had to split it into two episodes. You’ll like this part if you’re interested in kelp forests growing on ancient coral beds, Scottish seaweed mythology, seaweed robots and trumpets, biobanking, how kelp makes babies, and stories about connecting scientists with communities and artists.
This one’s for anyone who doesn’t want to consume 12kg of plastic, who likes the idea of the ocean as hero not victim, who’s into zines and radical imagination and composting. We're talking seaweed bioplastic! ♻️🦋