PhD Scholar Jess Roach recently attended the 25th International Seaweed Symposium held from May 4–9, 2025, in Victoria, British Columbia, on the traditional territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees), Xwsepsum (Esquimalt), and W̱SÁNEĆ Nations. Held every three years, the 2025 theme “Building on the Past to Propel the Seaweed Momentum” acknowledged both Indigenous relationships with seaweed and the foundational work of early researchers.
This year’s symposium welcomed 723 delegates from 43 countries, including 165 students, with 18 exhibitors, 26 sponsors, and over 500 academic presentations with Jess taking home third place for best student oral presentation.
Jess sat down and gave us a day-by-day account of her experience.
Day 1 included workshops on seaweed biorefineries, taxonomy, aquaculture in BC, and monitoring frameworks. I attended The Nature Conservancy’s workshop on their newly published Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning (MEL) framework, which aims to support low-cost, farmer-led monitoring and open-access data sharing. Feedback from participants was gathered for future framework adaptation.
Day 2 began with a traditional welcome from a local Indigenous dance group, followed by keynote talks on seaweed history in Victoria, the Algae Foundation, holobionts, and a “Seaweed Wizards” session celebrating six influential phycologists. The day continued with breakout sessions covering topics like aquaculture methods, breeding, kelp restoration, policy, cultivation, and global biobanking. The day concluded with an Indigenous social event and a student night with a pub quiz.
Day 3 featured two main sessions: one on Indigenous knowledge in kelp farming, including the SȾÁUTW̱ First Nation’s conservation efforts; the other on seaweed forests in a warming ocean. Breakout sessions covered topics such as climate stress, carbon cycling, restoration, coralline diversity, microbiomes, and biopolymers. With the evening concluding with the 25th anniversary gala dinner.
Day 4 offered optional tours and workshops, including whale watching, intertidal walks, thalassotherapy, and a Cyanotyping workshop which I attended. We learned the camera-less image technique where botanist Anna Atkins published the first book of seaweed cyanotypes.
Day 5 featured primary sessions on the Eucheumatoid industry and challenges in seaweed aquaculture. With a special all-women panel session, where they explored human–seaweed connections. Breakout topics included red seaweed farming, restoration, genomics, and IMTAs. I presented part of my PhD research on this day, with a focus on Durvillaea reproduction and its seasonal variation in New Zealand, with nodes for its importance for Māori.
The 6th and final day included a focus session on carbon removal strategies and breakout sessions on Ulva cultivation, algal blooms, aquaculture methods, and kelp forest status.
The symposium closed with an Indigenous farewell and student awards ceremony, where Jess was honoured to receive third place for best student oral presentation.
Congratulations Jess!
