UAS Service Event Collects 2 Tons of Seaweed for Local Community Gardens

Fifteen students from the University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) enrolled in Term Assistant Professor JoMarie Alba's Experiential Learning: Ecology of Southeast Alaska course (Biology 108) worked with Associate Professor Darren Snyder from UAF Cooperative Extension to learn about the benefits of seaweed in agriculture/horticulture contexts and other uses and then disperses to area beaches to collect seaweed for donation to Juneau area Community Gardens. John Smith III (Tlingit) provided insight on Tlingit traditional harvest and cultural practices and the work of the Juneau Commission on Sustainability.

• 76 hours service hours (15 UAS students, 2 UAS faculty members, 1 UAF faculty member, 1 community partner * 4 hours)

• 10 cubic yards (5,600 pounds / 2.8 tons) of seaweed delivered to 4 community gardens (CCTHITA Head Start, Juneau Tlingit and Haida Community Council, TMHS, Juneau Community Garden)

This opportunity was organized as part of the UAS One Campus, One Book program, Eat Like a Fish: My adventures as a fisherman turned restorative ocean farmer by Bren Smith is the 2022-23 selection. The book will serve as the centerpiece for explorations of mariculture, food security, local foods and our deep coastal community connections to the ocean. For more information and upcoming events visit the website at uas.alaska.edu/ocob.