The Marine Ecology and Green Aquaculture (MEGA) Laboratory studies interactions between marine plants, including seaweed, saltmarsh plants and seagrasses, and their environment. The MEGA Lab is most interested in seaweed aquaculture and its applications, environmentally sustainable aquaculture, and ecosystem services provided by marine plants.
The MEGA Lab works on technology development of open water and land-based seaweed aquaculture, integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA), a technology which integrates seaweed into a biofloc system, and seaweed-based carbon dioxide removal. This lab also evaluates ecosystem functions and biomass applications of marine plants.
For these research projects, the MEGA Lab works with over 20 different international institutions in the US, Canada, Mexico, Chile, UK, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, Faroe Islands, China, India, Vietnam, etc.