Erlania "Ellyn"

PhD Candidate

Erlania “Ellyn” is a PhD candidate who is observing the potential contribution of seaweed to carbon sequestration. Her project has been investigating a suite of biomarkers, including environmental DNA (eDNA) and compound-specific isotope biomarkers (fatty acid-based), to enable discrimination and quantification of seaweed carbon amongst other organic carbon sources in marine (coastal and oceanic) sediments. This project is running under different collaborations with researchers from within and outside Australia. The incorporation of seaweed into Blue Carbon strategies has remained controversial as seaweed grow on hard substrata and thus do not facilitate accretion of carbon within their habitat. She expected that the findings from this current project can promote the inclusion seaweed into global Blue Carbon assessment.