Updates
Back with a splash!
Thomas and Karen are back in Norway for the fieldwork season. The weather was great so they got straight in the water to test out their new diving gear with dive supervisor Jonas. Thomas also collected kelps for an exciting upcoming GecoKelp experiment that Hannah and Sophie have been setting up with the IMR team in the aquarium hall.
Stay tuned for more updates!
GEcoKelp Fieldwork
in Runde
At the end of March, a GEcoKelp team comprised of Hannah, Sophie and Gökcen ventured up to Runde (W Norway) for the first regional fieldwork of 2026. The team aimed to:
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Monitor and survey at four sites where Hannah has patches of tagged kelp she has been monitoring over time.
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Undertake surveys and collect additional Ascophyllum samples for Gökcens MSc thesis.
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Process and ship some samples from previous field campaign.
Despite some very early mornings and late evenings, alongside some storm force winds and potential pig interactions, the trip was a great success. The team managed to visit all sites and process all the laboratory samples in good time. They even managed to squeeze in a trip to the exhibition at the enviromental center followed by a hike up the bird mountain (although it was too windy to see the puffins that had recently arrived back).
The team are now back in Arendal processing the data and preparing for the next field trips, stay tuned to see where there next adventure takes them!
Trip to Notpla HQ
Sophie was invited to Notpla HQ in London to talk about the PROTEUS project and the environmental impacts of kelp harvesting in Norway. Notpla are one of the best-known plastic-free packaging companies globally, after winning the Earthshot prize in 2022. As leaders in the sustainable "packaging revolution", it was great to hear about their interest in securing sustainable seaweed biomass for their packaging as demands for their products expand.
Drop Camera Day Out
In early March, post docs Hannah (GEcoKelp) and Sophie (PROTEUS), Lene and Tom went out on the first fieldwork of the season to investigate temporal variation in kelp forests. Armed with the drop camera they revisited ~50 sites from the northern tip of Tromøya to Flødevigen. They had one day of cold misty weather and one day of beautiful sunshine, and they managed to stay upbeat despite an array of technical glitches. The videos are currently being analysed, and more surveys may be undertaken in the coming weeks so stay tuned for more updates.
PROTEUS presents to the
Norwegian Seaweed Cluster
Sophie was invited to present her work and the PROTEUS project to the Norwegian Seaweed Cluster in February. She was happy to share the progress and plans of PROTEUS in the online meeting with approximately 40 scientists and stakeholders working across Norway on seaweed farming and harvesting. Talks like this help to share the most up to date information, strengthen partnerships between research and industry and enable us to work towards a more sustainable future for the seaweed sector.
PROTEUS partners meet in Haugesand
In December 2025, Sissel Rogne met with other PROTEUS partners in Haugesand for two productive days of meetings to review the project. They also an exciting visit to the field to see the Hypomar harvesting vessel and Alginor's biorefinery facilities.
Image credit: PROTEUS-cbe
PROTEUS at the Centre for Coastal Research Conference
The annual scientific conference for the Centre of Coastal Research (CCR) took place on Tuesday 9th December at the University of Agder campus in Kristiansand. The CCR is an international and interdisciplinary academic institution hosted by the University of Agder. CCR focuses on the ecology and evolution of the biota in the marine coastal zone within a broad societal context.
Sophie Corrigan from the PROTEUS project went along to learn more about the great diversity of marine research taking place across research institutes in Norway and the wonderful collaborations between them. She also presented her poster on the work the PROTEUS team are doing to assess the impacts of kelp harvesting on biodiversity and came away with many fruitful ideas and connections!
PROTEUS and GEcoKelp at Havforskermøtet
PROTEUS and GEcoKelp were featured at the annual meeting of the Norwegian Association of Marine Scientists, that took place 24–26 November in Arendal. This year’s theme focused on “The effects of pollution and other human impacts on marine nature”.
Sophie Corrigan from the Institute of Marine Research (IMR), Norway, represented the PROTEUS project and shared insights into how our work supports sustainable management of kelp forests and blue ecosystems.
Hannah Earp and Antoinne Minne, also from IMR, represented the GEcoKelp project and gave talks titled "Production–consumption mismatches reveal vulnerability to coastal darkening for kelp forests at the Arctic-boreal interface" and "Genomic diversity and composition of Northeast Atlantic Norwegian kelp forests".
Havforskermøtet offered the opportunity to share updates from these projects with the wider marine sciences field, and connect with researchers across Norway and past (or future!) collaborators.
