OUR STORY & MISSION
The California Seaweed Festival arose from the decades of studying seaweeds, admiring their beauty and learning myriad ways that seaweeds make life better.
We want to share the beauty and diversity of seaweeds on our coasts, how seaweeds enrich coastal environments making seawater cleaner and a better habitat for hundreds of other species. We are inspired by all the ways that people use seaweeds, for food, fuel, climate resilience, awe and fun. Many Californians don’t know about the hundreds of kinds of seaweeds that flourish on our coast.
So, with help from California Sea Grant, we organized the first California Seaweed Festival in 2020, to celebrate all things seaweed in California!
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The California Seaweed Festival is an in-person family friendly non-profit event celebrating the seaweed diversity of California! The festival will showcase seaweed uses and applications in art, cooking, farming, science, sustainable technology, and conservation. At the all-day events, we have booths, exhibits, workshops, galleries, and hands-on activities to immerse you and your family in seaweed fun and knowledge. We also understand the need to have long lasting seaweed content. We strive to create seaweed content online for all to enjoy!
Founders
Our children call us “Seaweed Moms” – moms who think knowing more about seaweeds helps heal and protect the ocean.
Janet Kübler, PhD: Founder, President, & Co-Executive Director
Janet has been studying the biology of seaweeds for more than three decades, since she first snorkeled in the kelp forests of the pacific northwest. She is an expert on the effects of changing climate on seaweeds and is currently working to develop aquaculture of seaweed species that will be resilient to climate change. She lives in Southern California.
Simona Augyte, PhD: Founder, Secretary, & Co-Executive Director
Simona is one of the foremost experts in seaweed aquaculture in the United States. She has catalogued the seaweed biodiversity of Humboldt County, California and domesticated a novel strain of kelp in the North Atlantic. She has her own seaweed farm in Connecticut and has been chief scientist for several seaweed producers. She currently resides in Hawaii.
Planning and Festival Team
Our team is comprised of Californians passionate about seaweed and outreach. Experts from industry and academia have joined forces to create this incredible festival.
Leslie Booher, Development
Leslie the is co-founder of Sunken Seaweed, a seaweed farming company, and has been involved with seaweed conservation and aquaculture for over a decade. She is a born-and-raised Californian with a keen interest in regenerative food systems, marine ecology, and general good times, which is why she decided to get involved with the California Seaweed Festival. When she's not up to her elbows in seaweed, Leslie enjoys crawling around with her one year old son, working on her homestead and garden, and exploring the dozens of trails in her Humboldt County backyard.
Elizabeth Burns, IT & Marketing
Elizabeth recently graduated with her Master’s in Marine Biology working on fish sound production and behaviors. But don’t let her fishy association mislead you. She has a passion for seaweed and kelp forest ecology. She was born and raised in Southern California. She is interested in Kelp forest ecology, fish behavior, and California Marine Coastal Ecology. Elizabeth loves to SCUBA, swim, and draw in her free time.
Julia Marsh, Communications
Julia is the CEO & Co-founder of Sway, a California-based clean tech startup scaling next generation packaging made from seaweed. As a designer, Julia spent over a decade building brand and packaging systems for consumer goods companies, technology startups, and design studios around the world. Her work is driven by a deep passion for regenerative design and biological circularity. As a member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, and 1% for the Planet, Sway is working holistically to scale their products for a thriving, equitable future.
Carolyn Jones, Treasurer
A life-long Californian, Carolyn has never lived more than a couple of miles from the ocean. She is based near Arcata, CA where she earned a BA in philosophy from Humboldt State University. Now retired from a career in nonprofit management she spends her time hand-weaving, traveling the world, and volunteering for worthy causes.
Steve Dudgeon, PhD: Operations Manager
Steven Dudgeon is a marine ecologist who has spent decades understanding how rocky shores can catastrophically switch between animal and seaweed dominated communities. When not Coordinating Operations at the California Seaweed Festival, Steve is a Professor at California State University, Northridge and a Program Director in the Division of Environmental Biology at the National Science Foundation. Steve brings 8 years of volunteer experience coordinating and managing facilities at educational and outreach events in the Los Angeles area.
Rafael Cuevas Uribe, PhD: Academic Coordinator
Rafael Cuevas Uribe is an Associate Professor at the Department of Fisheries Biology at Cal Poly Humboldt and a leader in the ProvidenSea Seaweed Farm in Humboldt Bay. He is making the world better through sustainable aquaculture including integrated multi-trophic aquaculture systems and preservation of germplasm of aquatic species. You will often find him out on the water or camping with his family in the redwoods..