Speaker

About the speaker: 

Dr. Urd Grandorf Bak is Chief Research Officer at Ocean Rainforest. She is an expert in environmental biology and geography and holds an industrial PhD in seaweed cultivation in the Faroe Islands. Urd has a substantial experience working with international research and innovation projects and is currently the Project Manager of the Horizon Europe funded project SeaMark that is being co-ordinated by Ocean Rainforest.

Company info:

Ocean Rainforest Sp/F is one of the largest seaweed farmers in Europe and US. With a well-tested open ocean macroalgal cultivation rig (MACR) the company can grow Saccharina latissima and Macrocystis pyrifera in high wave and exposed areas. The activities of the company span the entire supply chain – from producing seeding material to cultivation and maintenance at sea to the processing into storage stable products.

SeaMark is a four-year project co-funded by Horizon Europe which started on July 1, 2022. A consortium comprising 25 international, cross-disciplinary partners has been awarded a €9 million Horizon Europe grant to upscale seaweed production and market applications across Europe. SeaMark will develop 12 products and prototypes to TRL 7 or above over four years in a cascading biorefinery approach. Products span the entire value chain, comprising feed additives, food ingredients, health supplements, bioplastics, and biomedical devices.

Keywords:

Offshore cultivation of seaweed, processing, storage, aquaculture, seeding, epiphytes, bioactive content of macroalgae, marine food and feed products, stress tolerance and optimal growth conditions for macroalgae, bio economy