A long time ago, in January 2020, when the pandemic was merely a phantom menace and people could go outside and travel (unimaginable!), way back then Jack visited the British Phycological Society conference and interviewed a lot of people. So many that we’re still processing those tapes, and in this episode we are excited to present three more very impressive interviews. * Our first interviewee is Andrew Monk from Iolight, a startup that produces a science-grade portable microscope. This little engineering marvel allows scientists to analyze their samples right in the field without going back to the lab. Applicable in numerous disciplines phycology included.* Next, we have Georgina Andrews from Algaecytes, a company that aims at waste-free algae farming and producing algae oil. What’s algae oil you ask? Well, listen up to learn about that and we’ll only say that it’s very suitable for vegans. Jack and Georgina also discuss some peculiarities of farming algae while trying to keep it harmless for the environment.* The third interview is with Dr. Marco Lizzul, innovation manager at Varicon Aqua. This company specializes in different types of photobioreactors and helps companies around the world with starting their own algae farms. We hope you’ll find the episode educating and useful, and don’t forget to follow the podcast on social media to learn even more. We’ll see you in the next one! A friendly reminder while you’re here… We love making the podcast and bringing you all this amazing content for free. We don’t want to run any ads and believe in the idea of a community-supported content. If you like the show, please consider becoming our patreon, this will help the podcast grow. Even if you can’t make a pledge, your part is as important as everyone’s. Spread the word, share the links and leave a review on Apple Podcasts and any other podcast provider you use. Together we’ll succeed! Become a Patron!

In this episode, Jack is joined by Eyal Ronen from TransAlgae, a company that has developed an algae-based platform for oral delivery of medicine. Previously on the show, we had talked about different ways algae can be used in disease treatment, whether being medicine or as in this case delivering the drug. Eyal and Jack are going deeper into the intricacies of the process that TransAlgae developed, and discuss how this method can be advantageous. The important part of the episode is the fact that TransAlgae, as many companies around the world, has joined the fight against the COVID-19 virus. They have started an investment round hoping to attract some financing in order to proceed with the development of the vaccine against coronavirus. If you are interested or know someone who can be, in providing financial help, you can find the contact information below. For the meantime, we hope you are staying home and safe wherever you are in the world, and we’ll be with you right back in the next episode. Mr. Eyal Ronen, VP Business Development, TransAlgae: [email protected] , Mobile +972542316508.

Remember when life was easier way back when? Long long two weeks ago? Well, those were the days! We used to talk about algae on this podcast, but guess what, we’re are still doing it! In this new episode (delivered to you absolutely coronavirus free via the internet) Jack talks to Samuel Iliffe, a designer at Atelier Luma, an experimental design studio bridging the gap between academia, industry and culture. Their project ‘Algae Platform‘ researches the potentials of algae as a material for design. Back in our episode about algae in design, Jack and I touched on the topic, and now you get a chance to listen to an expert in the field. Enjoy, stay home and stay safe!

And we are back! Time might be a flat circle (who knows really 😉 ) but it definitely spins fast. It’s been a couple of months since there was a new episode but rest assured we have not been idling around. Jack, for example, made it a tradition to visit the British Phycological Society conference every January. This year the event took place in Plymouth, and what you’re going to hear in this part are three interviews Jack took at the conference floor. Here is a slick rundown of the interviews with timestamps for navigation. Hennie Thomson about the Applied Phycology Journal Martyn Kelly about algae and the EU legislation. Visit his website to learn more about his work. Susi Arnott about the SlimeWatch project.

Ho-ho-ho, everyone! Welcome to the year 2020 and to the episode #20, which we intentionally held back in order to achieve such a “coincidence”. No, just kidding, we are not that smart. Anyway, our first episode of the new year is somewhat special. As we’ve mentioned before, both of us are working for an algae-farming company, Algatechnologies, and in this episode, we have a former CEO Hagai Stadler as a guest. You may take it with a grain of salt (and algae), but Hagai sounds very enthusiastic about algae in general, and their commercial potential specifically, despite the fact of being the head of the company for a good number of years. Even more importantly, he provides another perspective on the topic, which is as valuable as ever in this fast-growing industry (pun intended). Also, we’d like to take the opportunity and wish all of you a great and happy new year. May it bring us joy and only good things! P.S. Thank you for staying with us in 2019, and here is to another year talking about algae! A friendly reminder while you’re here… We love making the podcast and bringing you all this amazing content for free. We don’t want to run any ads and believe in the idea of a community-supported content. If you like the show, please consider becoming our patreon, this will help the podcast grow. Even if you can’t make a pledge, your part is as important as everyone’s. Spread the word, share the links and leave a review on Apple Podcasts and any other podcast provider you use. Together we’ll succeed! Become a Patron!

We have to finally acknowledge the elephant in this algae room: biofuel. We’ve been talking about numerous aspects of algae and ways of using them but algae biofuels remained untouched. Until now. This episode features Maxwell A Ware, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Peers lab at Colorado State University, who approached us with the idea of an episode about biofuels and some new developments in the area. Maxwell happens to be working on many of those developments, and undoubtedly possesses deep knowledge and expertise of the subject. That was exactly the missing puzzle piece Jack and I were lacking, and of course, we seized the opportunity to talk to a person who knows a couple of (hundred) things about algae biofuels. We’ve found this conversation tremendously educating and we suggest you check it out too. A friendly reminder while you’re here… We love making the podcast and bringing you all this amazing content for free. We don’t want to run any ads and believe in the idea of a community-supported content. If you like the show, please consider becoming our patreon, this will help the podcast grow. Even if you can’t make a pledge, your part is as important as everyone’s. Spread the word, share the links and leave a review on Apple Podcasts and any other podcast provider you use. Together we’ll succeed! Become a Patron! See ya’ll next time! Cover art by Pilow Dash

The wait is over! And even if you were not waiting (we know you were) still here it comes. The 2nd part of Jack’s interview with Madeline Hutchins and Frances Gallagher about Ellen Hutchins. In the second half of their conversation, they talk more about the struggles of being a woman botanist in the 19th century and also about the influence Ellen’s work had on phycology. Enjoy the show and we’ll see next time!

We are back! They are back! She is back! Almost ten episodes ago, back in April 2019, we talked about a wonderful woman Ellen Hutchins, the first Irish female botanist, and guess what, we are talking about her again in this new episode. There are two great reasons to get back to her, except for the obvious fact she was amazing. First, the annual Ellen Hutchins Festival happened, and Jack got a chance to talk to Madeline Hutchins, a great great grand niece of Ellen Hutchins. Madeline is joined by our first comeback guest Frances Gallagher, and together they paint an exciting picture of Ellen’s life and work on seaweeds and algae. The second reason happens to be an exhibition at The Royal Botanical Garden Kew called Celebrating Ellen Hutchins. It puts a long-deserved spotlight on her work as a field botanist, seaweed collector and illustrator. The exhibition is open till November 22. This episode is the first part of Jack’s conversation with Madeline and Frances, so stick around for part #2 and we’ll see you next time!

This time on the podcast we have a special guest Courtney Boyd Myers from AKUA, a company that makes kelp jerky. Jack interviews Courtney about the product itself, how it came to be and why they need chefs. They also talk about the efforts the company makes to keep production sustainable, eco-friendly and support local kelp farmers. The AlgaTalk Podcast now has a Patreon page where you can show your love and support by joining one of the tiers. Jack and I are working hard to make the show better and your support is crucial. Can’t join a tier? No sweats! You can do so much more still by simply going to the Apple Podcasts and leaving us a comment or a rating. Also, don’t underestimate the power of social media. Spread the word about the show and maybe send a link to someone who you think might need a bit more algae in their life. See y’all next time! Cover art by Pilow Dash

After a quite serious and heavy episode about alga blooms, we decided to talk about something more positive, more summer vibe-y. So in this episode, we talk about harmony, a certain kind that is called symbiosis. There are many cases of symbiotic relationships between algae and animals, and we wanted to highlight some of the most curious stories in our opinion. One of the most amazing facts that Jack and I have noticed was that not every symbiotic combination is mutually beneficial which is usually exactly the idea of symbiosis. Turns out sometimes one of the parties gets less or maybe even nothing at all. Nature works in exciting ways. Here are the stories we talked about: * GENITALS-BREATHING TURTLE WITH GREEN ALGAE ‘HAIR’ FACES POSSIBLE EXTINCTION, GROUP SAYS* Sloth fur has symbiotic relationship with green algae* Spotted Salamanders And Green Algae Have A Strange Symbiotic Relationship* Elysia viridis, the solar-powered sea slug A bonus story that didn’t make it into the show is about crabs taking care of algae to keep those healthy and thus get protection for themselves. Cover art by Pilow Dash