Harvesting seaweed to save the planet
Jo Kelly, ASI Founder
As the founder of The Seaweed Institute, Jo Kelly is growing the seaweed industry to tackle climate change. She’s this week’s Changemaker.
Unlike other types of farming, seaweed plantations have been proven to improve the health of our bays, oceans and reefs, and even help reduce carbon emissions.
While Australia’s coastline has ideal growing conditions, as of yet, there are no commercial ocean-based seaweed farms in the country. It’s something that Jo Kelly is trying to change.
With over 20 years’ experience spanning aquaculture, financial services, food, water, environment, utilities, transport, defence and health sectors, she is fighting to position seaweed farming as an alternative to polluting industries in a bid to combat climate change and create jobs in rural areas.
The Seaweed Institute is collaborating with ocean farmers, research organisations, and manufacturers, to develop a framework to unite government and researchers to create a national seaweed industry.
For her work, Kelly was named a Myer Innovation Fellow in 2019, and more recently a recipient of the AMP Foundation Tomorrow Maker program, using the grant to fund nanotechnology research to increase seaweed’s capacity to improve water quality.
In this week’s Changemaker, she discusses her practical approach to climate action, the challenges and benefits of growing a new industry, and why being flexible is key to making change.