A weekend event, May-31-June 1, presented by Antioch University Santa Barbara’s Undergraduate Studies Department in conjunction with Santa Barbara Permaculture included a Friday lecture and a Saturday Workshop with Dr. Brian von Herzen, Executive Director of the Climate Foundation.
Dr. von Herzen has been studying the decline of ocean ecosystems for more than a decade. He wants to restore marine life with thousands of new kelp forests along the world’s coastlines using Marine Permaculture Arrays (MPA’s), invented by Dr. von Herzen and his team. MPA’s are lightweight, latticed structures, roughly a half a square mile in size, to which kelp can attach. Attached buoys rise and fall with the waves, powering pumps that bring up colder, nutrient-rich waters from far below to the surface platforms. Kelp soak up the nutrients and grow. With reforestation of our oceans, Dr. von Herzen and the Climate Foundation feel we can solve global warming in our lifetime.
Chair of the Undergraduate studies department and marine biologist Dawn Murray, PhD was enthusiastic about the event. “Students need to learn about hopeful projects and new technologies engineered by people who are being creative and working collaboratively – Antioch’s core purposes infused into doing good and making a difference,” she said. “The students who attended were excited and energized by discussing new strategies for ocean regeneration. The Antioch University Undergraduate Program continues to work with the Santa Barbara Permaculture Network to host these community events bringing people together to talk about climate change solutions.”
