Open House: Kelp Seaforestation to Harness Solutions for Climate Change

Come join us on Sat, June 29, 2024 at 10:00 AM for an exciting event at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles

James Arthur began his journey with regenerative aquaculture as a teenager volunteering at the Nature Interpretive Center in Southern California where he got first hand experience with a steelhead trout breeding and hatchery program. For the past ten years he lived aboard and sailed around the Pacific from San Francisco to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Throughout that time he’s been on a mission visiting ocean aquaculture farms, vetting claims, lab testing seafood and connecting the best-in-class aquaculture projects with farm-to-table restaurants in California. In 2020 he founded SEATOPIA, a gourmet seafood subscription box now delivering certified mercury-safe seafood, carbon-neutral, direct to homes nationwide. Through SEATOPIA, he is endeavoring to scale a truly regenerative seafood supply chain and empower health-conscious consumers to directly support innovative aquaculture projects producing some of the healthiest protein on the planet.

Dr. Emily Aguirre is an interdisciplinary scientist interested in developing tractable systems to study symbiotic associations between hosts and their microbes. Now, she is passionate about engineering symbiotic interactions between bacteria and hosts, to enhance health and fitness in kelp ecosystems and aid conservation and aquaculture efforts. She is a former NSF GRFP recipient and holds a Ph.D. in Biology, a B.S in. Microbiology and an A.A.S. Chemical Technology. During her spare time, Dr. Aguirre likes to explore the local deserts and cultivate algae and edible mushrooms.

Quinn Fagersten is the current laboratory technician in the Nuzhdin Laboratory helping to manage both the USC and AltaSea facilities. She regularly volunteers at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles preparing specimens for the Mammalian Collections and hopes to further her involvement in ecological and evolutionary biology through a combination of practical fieldwork, bioinformatics, and molecular biology. Quinn Fagersten earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences with an emphasis on Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Science from the University of Southern California and will be returning to the university in the fall to pursue her PhD in the Dean laboratory, synthesizing her undergraduate background and her practical experience in her research on sperm competition and fertilization outcomes in Macrocystis Pyrifera.

Organized by a leader in the Blue Economy that strives towards sustainable and responsible use of ocean resources to promote economic growth, improve livelihoods, and ensure the health of ocean ecosystems to address environmental and social challenges within our communities.

Delve into science, technology, engineering, business and the ocean

This is a great opportunity for students of all ages to learn about ocean based careers that turn to the ocean to develop solutions for some of the planet’s most pressing challenges, such as climate change, energy supply, and global food security.

Our local ocean-focused and community based organizations will be available for guests to speak with

On-Site Exhibiting Partners

Exhibiting Partners

If you are interested in Exhibiting please fill out the Open House Registration form:

If you would like to start volunteering for AltaSea you can register for this Open House and other education and community engagement events at:

Host or Publisher AltaSea