Spirulina Voices Interview: Ike Levine

seagriculture.eu

Dr. Ike Levine combines 25+ years of applied algal farming, cultivar enhancement, and new product development with 15+ years of academic appointments. As a professor of algae at the University of Southern Maine, Ike has focused on inspiring the next generation of algae professionals. He also owned a 123-acre seaweed farm raising porphyra.

Pursuing his educational goals, Dr. Levine co-founded The Algae Foundation nine years ago, reaching hundreds of thousands of students in the USA and internationally. He co-created the Algae Prize in cooperation with the US Department of Energy as a student competition to develop, design, invent, or enhance a specific technology, cultivation, processing or new product development within the commercial algae value chain. Ike’s also the creative force behind the Algae Academy, a K-12 effort all about changing the perception of algae from “ick” to “awesome.”

In the not-too-distant future Ike hopes algae can become a part of many American farms, including spirulina microfarms, as have become popular in France and India. As he likes to say, “Algae can play a major part in saving the world… take a deep breath and thank the algae.”

Video produced by Spirulina Source, interview by Robert Henrikson ©2022

All rights reserved. Permission required to reprint articles in their entirety. Must include copyright statement and live hyperlinks. Contact david@algaeplanet.com. Algae Planet accepts unsolicited manuscripts for consideration, and takes no responsibility for the validity of claims made in submitted editorial.

seagricultureusa 2023 Portland ME

Subscribe

Breaking-News

  • May 30, 2023: Following an extensive restructuring AlgaEnergy, of Madrid, Spain, has partnered with Europe’s De Sangosse Group in a deal that will enable a concentrated focus on the Group’s agricultural markets, specifically agribiological inputs including biostimulants, biofertilizers, and biocontrol. READ MORE
  • May 25, 2023: A marine research team led by Professor YAN Qingyun has proposed a method to assess the net carbon sink of marine macroalgae. Their research suggested that the net carbon sink of Gracilaria cultivation in China was about 32.1-92.4 kilotons per year from 2011 to 2020. READ MORE
  • May 23, 2023: A marine research team led by Professor Yan Qingyun has proposed a method to assess the net carbon sink of marine macroalgae (Gracilaria) cultivation. READ MORE
Seaweed Industry Job Board

A Beginner’s Guide

EABA AlgaeEurope23