Seaweed Farming and Climate Change

Mia Urban

My research focuses on environmental science and how seaweed aquaculture, or the farming of seaweed, can be used to help reduce the impacts of climate change. One study I found showed that by adding a type of red seaweed called Asparagopsis taxiformis into cattle feed, the amount of methane released by the cattle was reduced by up to 98%. Another study showed that seaweed can be converted into biofuel, taking the place of around 10-20% of harmful fossil fuels being used and preventing more carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere from these fossil fuels. A third study showed that, just by cultivating seaweed, excess carbon dioxide in the ocean can be reduced, and, when farmed alongside fish, seaweed can absorb the damaging excess nutrients produced by fish wastes. The research being done on seaweed aquaculture can provide some suggestions on how to lower the world’s carbon footprint; however, more research and technologies must be created to make large-scale seaweed aquaculture feasible and have the greatest potential to reduce climate change. I am continuing with the Research Practicum and will be mentored by Dr. Chen Li in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Li studies how snakes and cockroaches move, to inform how robots can be made to mimic these movements.