By Ella Murdock Gardner ’22
Sylvie Alexander 鈥�22 couldn鈥檛 tell you specifically what drew her to seaweed, just like she can鈥檛 put her finger on exactly what compels her about the ocean. But it鈥檚 precisely this magical uncertainty that drives her to learn more. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what it is, but it makes me tick,鈥� she says. As a recipient of the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship鈥攁 one-year grant for independent exploration outside of the United States鈥擜lexander will pursue her interest in seaweed鈥檚 social and ecological applications across Norway, France, Chile, Tanzania, and Japan.
During her sophomore year, Alexander took a class in oceanography that 鈥渃ompletely rocked my world,鈥� as she says. Her interest in the ocean鈥檚 capacity to regulate and mitigate the climate led her to self-design a major called Oceans and Climate Change. Since then, she鈥檚 become especially interested in the field of carbon dioxide removal (CRD), which explores methods for sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere in the ocean.
Last summer, while interning at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and contributing to a research paper about Marine CDR, Alexander learned about several 鈥渇reaky鈥� theoretical techniques for sequestering carbon in the ocean, including splitting carbon out of water with electricity and building giant pumps that would funnel carbon from the atmosphere directly into the deep sea. But she was more intrigued by the simpler, more natural forms of CDR that focus on enhancing current carbon pathways to store more carbon from the atmosphere in existing reservoirs. That鈥檚 where seaweed comes in.
Seaweed boasts a range of climate mitigation capabilities. For example, seaweed additives in cattle feed can help significantly reduce the methane that cows produce; seaweed can be converted into biofuel; and seaweed soaks up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, converting it into biomass through photosynthesis. 鈥淭he moment I learned about the possibility of climate mitigation through seaweed cultivation, it was like sparks went off,鈥� Alexander says. 鈥淎s I was learning about communities across the world that already have rich relationships with seaweed鈥攃ultivating it for medicines, cosmetics, and food鈥擨 realized seaweed could provide a great lens onto the interplay between changing oceans, changing climate, and humanity.鈥�
Alexander will begin her Watson Fellowship in Norway, where she鈥檒l work with both a small seaweed seasoning manufacturer (run by a four-woman team) and one of Europe鈥檚 largest seaweed suppliers. From there, she鈥檒l make a short hop south to France to work with two more large-scale seaweed farms, giving her perspective on a more developed, scientific, and highly controlled approach to cultivation. After bidding France au revoir, Alexander will travel to Chile, where commercial demand has overburdened and depleted the country鈥檚 wild seaweed stocks; she hopes to learn from harvesters鈥攊ncluding the famed algueras (female seaweed collectors) of Pichilemu鈥攁bout the rich and storied history of Chile鈥檚 relationship to seaweed. Her next flight will land her in Tanzania, where roughly 70 percent of seaweed cultivators are women who secure income through processing their crop into cosmetics and soaps. Alexander will round out her year abroad in Japan, where seaweed is an integral part of both the food industry and the culture.
鈥淵ou can find seaweed popping up in grocery stores here in the United States, but there鈥檚 still a lot of resistance to it,鈥� Alexander explains. 鈥淗aving successfully introduced seaweed into their economy through food, Japan might provide a model for thinking about how to integrate seaweed more fully into other societies.鈥�
For Alexander, planning this worldwide tour was an educational experience in itself. 鈥淐old-emailing people in Japan to ask, 鈥楥an I potentially come learn from you?鈥� was a really special part of the process,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hose conversations would have been rewarding even if I didn鈥檛 get the Watson Fellowship, because I definitely want to pursue something related to seaweed professionally.鈥�
Alexander currently works at a company that markets different seaweed products. In the future, she鈥檚 hoping to continue the kind of seaweed-based research on climate change she conducted during her semester abroad in Iceland, but she鈥檚 ready to follow seaweed wherever it takes her. 鈥淚 feel like I鈥檓 standing on the tip of the iceberg and I don鈥檛 even know what鈥檚 possible yet, but I鈥檓 excited to continue exploring,鈥� she says.