Women in North American Aquaculture Aquaculture North America

While the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to a lot of things including, Julie Kuchepatov’s job, she turned lemons into lemonade by founding Seafood and Gender Equality (SAGE). SAGE is now three years old, and it continues to develop initiatives to support companies that need to address gender issues internally.

As a social media content creator, Emily De Sousa's mission is to change the way people think about global food systems and spread the message that the future of food is 'blue' through her influencer's brand, Seaside with Emily. In this episode, De Sousa discusses the insights of a content creator's life. Combining her scientific background in fisheries with her expertise in social marketing and digital communication, she explains what it takes to educate the public about aquaculture and sustainable seafood.

In this episode, Sarah Curry, founder and executive director of Sereia Films, discusses the story of her non-profit film production company that has made its mission to share the stories of the industry and to promote aquaculture through short-form documentaries.
“Eating Out: The Hunt for Sustainable Seafood,” is Sereia Films’ ongoing series, covering farms in South Florida that farm fish sustainably.

In her current role as manager of communications, partnerships and community for the BC Salmon Farmers Association, Michelle Franze has used her expertise to effectively communicate the benefits and importance of aquaculture to a wide audience. In this episode, Franze tells us about the Young Salmon Farmers in BC, a group she co-founded that aims to be an inclusive body to sustains a positive dialogue about ocean-based salmon farming in rural coastal Vancouver Island communities.

While Dr. Tracy Fanara’s day job as the US Coastal Modeling Manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is to advance our understanding of our earth systems and threats to humans, she spends her “spare time” as the science communicator Inspector Planet. Her goal is to bridge the gap between scientists and the public as a strategy to spark behavioural change towards more sustainable lifestyles. Through this, Fanara has learned the “do’s” and “don’ts” of science communication and is on a mission to share what she has learned with other scientists.

Genome editing is a technology that faces several challenges. Debbie Plouffe, co-founder and associate vice-president of business development for the Center for Aquaculture Technologies (CAT), discusses in this episode these challenges, and to how raise awareness about the potential of this technology for increasing food production.