Thomas Storwick, Co-Founder of Cleantech Start-up, Coastal Carbon

Episode #10 Coastal Carbon

Thomas Storwick from Coastal Carbon uses satellite data and AI technology to speak for the trees... or in this case, the kelp! His platform is enabling blue carbon credits, data-driven marine ecosystem restoration, protection of biodiversity, sustainable aquaculture and economic development–even in remote locations around the world, where Indigenous communities are so often at the global forefront of climate action. As Thomas remarks, "None of this remote monitoring would be possible without AI. We're doing measurements that were impossible before and at a scale that wasn't feasible."

Today, we take you to the intersection of seaweed and AI, in this tenth episode of Season 1 of the Frontier Entrepreneurship Podcast, with Co-Hosts Braden Kemp (Bioenterprise Canada) and Tracy Morningstar (CCAB).

Themes we encounter in this conversation with Thomas:

• The state of seaweed in the coastal environment
• Aquaculture farming and marine ecosystem regeneration
• Remote data capture with AI
• Blue carbon credits and co-benefits (community economic development, supporting remote communities, understanding and influencing the growth of biodiversity)
• Indigenous economic development implications
• Coastal Carbon’s market focus and business model
• Seaweed markets generally, biotech applications and outlook
• Seaweed farming insights and analytics (beyond blue carbon credits).

Quick Links and References

• Coastal Carbon’s official website
• Ocean Wise
• On sea urchin barrens (UC Santa Cruz news center)
• Key vocabulary: Blue Carbon (NOAA definition); Transect (NPS definition); MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification, World Bank overview), Biostimulants (University of Minnesota definition), Bio-fouling (IMO).
• Learn more about UC Berkely’s seaweed projects

Acknowledgments

Coastal Carbon secured $25,000 in matching, performance-based seed funding from NCFDC's thriveFORWARD initiative, with the support of FedDev Ontario and the Government of Canada's Jobs and Growth Fund (JGF).

The Executive Producer of the Frontier Entrepreneurship Podcast is Robert Washburn. Special thanks to NCFDC’s Victoria Pichler, Daniela Scoppa, Sanjay Deoram and John Hayden. This project is made possible with the support of FedDev Ontario and the Government of Canada.

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The Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB) is a national non-profit organization with a mission is to promote, strengthen and enhance a prosperous Indigenous economy through the fostering of business relationships, opportunities and awareness for all CCAB Membership.