30 Breakthroughs: Technology & Biotechnology

November 10, 2021

Pat Halpin

Mapping the Marine Environment

Thanks to Pat Halpin and his crew at the Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, the old adage “out of sight, out of mind” no longer applies when it comes to protecting the world’s oceans and the species and resources found there.

The geospatial mapping software, visualization tools, and interactive databases developed in Halpin’s lab have revolutionized our ability to track the distribution and seasonal movements of marine species and reduce their risk of vessel strikes, entanglements in fishing gear, and other harmful run-ins with human activities.

These tools include the MiCO system, an online global database that maps the movements of sea turtles, whales, sea birds and other migratory species through the open ocean; and OBIS-SEAMAP, a searchable repository of mapped data from more than 7.7 million sightings of 734 species.

Lab members work closely with conservation groups, governments, industry groups and intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme to develop and disseminate the tools they create. The aim, says Halpin, professor of marine geospatial ecology, isn’t just to make software, it’s to make a difference.

From Green Algae to Green Biofuel

Since the 1970s, researchers have been saying biofuel and food derived from marine microalgae could be the next big green breakthrough. The problem is, they’ve never cracked the code of how to scale up its production while ramping down the price.

Zackary Johnson is on the job.

Johnson, associate professor of molecular biology in marine science, leads the Marine Algae Industrialization Consortium (MAGIC), a university-industry research collaboration headquartered at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort.

Much of Johnson and his colleagues’ work focuses on finding ways to drive down the production cost of algae-derived biofuel by maximizing the value of the protein-rich biomass left over after the algae’s oil is extracted to make the fuel. Their research has shown the protein could be used in fish, poultry and swine feed and as a substitute for whey in human foods, and may potentially have greater value than the oil.

Fueled by these findings, they’re also exploring solutions to broader challenges. One recent paper identified negative-emissions technologies that could increase industrial-scale microalgae production facilities’ carbon capture and storage capabilities and eliminate their need for electricity derived from fossil fuels.