Technical advice relating to Asparagopsis culture including production system engineering, cost issues and algal physiology. Asparagopsis produces toxins that rather specifically inhibit bacterial production of methane in ruminants. Use in animal feed, for example in dairy cattle, greatly reduces methane production while increasing feed use efficiency. It has the potential to contribute significantly to reduction in global warming. Asparagopsis is expected to be a high-value product because only a small amount is needed for control of methane production.

Advice and direction for all steps of production of Ulva. Ulva is an edible seaweed with very interesting health promoting effects. It promotes a more efficient energy metabolism that appears to have downstream influence on ROS, inflammation and hence a variety of inflammation related diseases. It appears to slow or reverse some aging related conditions such as low energy and reduced memory function.

My principal client was Algenol. Algenol's initial business strategy was aimed at commercialization of algae engineered to produce ethanol directly from the products of photosynthesis, leading to low cost biofuels. As a consultant, I suggested alternative approaches, and called attention to the major challenges such an approach presented, including ethanol distillation cost from low concentration, species control, genetic stability and bioreactor cost issues. Algenol research made substantial progress on all of these. As a consultant, I made contributions to these efforts as follows:

1. 3. A somewhat fanciful bioreactor design was patented early in the process: US7682821B2. 2.The invention of a distillation method capable of low-cost distillation from dilute sources. (US9272229B2) The state of the art at the time was to recapture the heat of vaporization from the distillation process by compression of the ethanol vapor output, using the re-captured heat to boil the dilute ethanol-water feed. Research was focused on the development of cost-effective membrane systems for the separation of ethanol and water. Because these systems were far from commercial viability, we decided to look for alternatives. The solution was fairly simple: compress the vapor from the stripper, which is still mostly water but in which the ethanol content is about 10 times higher than it is in the dilute feed. The heat of vaporization is recaptured, but by compressing water vapor instead of ethanol vapor, so the amount of energy required is much less, close to the theoretical minimum. The condensate could then be fed into conventional distillation. While it is energy efficient, distillation from a dilute source requires a large stripper, so it is still cheaper to have a concentrated source than a dilute source, but this invention made a dilute source practical. Fermentation of some feedstocks can be inhibited by ethanol, and in these cases it may be more economical to ferment only to a low ethanol concentration and use the water vapor compression approach.3. A later publication 20140093924 (in situ fermentation by a biofilm) described an approach to in situ fermentation induced by anoxia that would have avoided problems with genetic instability and microbial contamination, two major headaches. This approach would have required re-engineering the cyanobacteria at a minimum, possibly using a different organism as a starting point so management decided not to pursue it.

4. I began prototyping of early bioreactor designs using machined platen sealing of two plastic sheets. This work was later superseded using commercial equipment and more sophisticated engineering designs, but I was instrumental in getting this approach started.5. Development of techno-economic models for business and research guidance.I also worked with individual scientists on various science and management issues. This included development of modeling approaches to yield in ponds and bioreactors, phosphate uptake dynamics and population dynamics.

AA developed a culture method for the production of brown shrimp (Farfantepenaeus californiensis) in Baja California. This co-culture method involved the replacement of a substantial fraction of shrimp feed with Ulva clathrata grown in the same pond as the shrimp. There are several benefits to this approach: reduced feed cost, healthier shrimp, better color and flavor of shrimp, rapid uptake of ammonia and greatly reduced water exchange needs.With this method, water is clear and the algal biomass provides hiding places for the shrimp.The basics of brown shrimp culture were developed by CIBNOR in La Paz, but the work of Aonori Aquafarms to extend this work to commercial scale was a unique contribution to the technology, as was the co-culture with Ulva.There were commercial sales of Aonori brown shrimp. It was very well received, with a flavor like wild-caught shrimp, superior to any farmed shrimp.Several Ulva harvests were made, and the dried product was tested as a raw material for sushi wrap and as a food ingredient. There were no commercial sales of Ulva.The principal difficulties encountered related to Ulva culture. There were problems with microbiology, mainly bacterial disease, that resulted in reductions in yield. A research program was begun, but the company shut down before much progress was made.

Invented methods for clean culture of planting stock, shrimp / Ulva co-culture. Oversaw demonstration of large scale feasibility of complete culture system.

Worked on commercialization of Ulva clathrata. Oversaw transition from energy focus to food / feed focus. Invented new culture techniques, primarily the floating cord method.

Worked on chloroplast transformation, chloroplast drug resistance markers, built gene gun, worked on transformation of coffee, corn, carnation. Worked on low cost algae culture for energy, invented direct ethanol production by algae for biofuels.

I worked on stress effects on photosynthesis, including demonstration of protein phosphorylation responses to stresses that reduced carbon dioxide fixation activity. I invented a device for in vivo fluorescence monitoring of PSII activity. This device was never commercialized, but there are now several more sophisticated commercial devices that use flash-induced fluorescence of PSII as a useful way of measuring the status of the photosynthetic apparatus.

Designed small electronics gadgets for musicians: preamp, noise reduction, optical isolator. The pre-amp used discrete components with a FET input, balanced current flows and a low open-loop gain. The result was a low noise pre-amp with low distortion for small signals and a very gentle approach to the voltage rails so large signals were not clipped.