Sugar kelp is known for being highly adaptive to different environments, so it basically can grow in a lot of places.”

Alaina Zhang, senior at Portsmouth Abbey School

PORTSMOUTH — Alaina Zhang apologized profusely for being late to our interview last week. The Portsmouth Abbey School senior had been chatting online with U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo, and just before that she met with another congressman, Sen. Jack Reed.

It seems like a lot of bigwigs, including some preeminent environmental scientists, want to have a dialogue with Zhang, whose research into sugar kelp as a sustainable solution to environmental issues has drawn significant attention.

Zhang was recently awarded the Earth Day Scholarship given by National Society of High School Scholars Foundation, which recognizes students who actively raise awareness and protect the planet through projects and activities in their schools and communities.  

Her specific focus is sugar kelp and she spent months taking water samples along Narragansett Bay, analyzing how kelp farms influence water clarity, nitrogen levels, and biodiversity. 

“Sugar kelp is a fast-growing, brown seaweed that’s indigenous to the Rhode Island area. I first heard about it through a podcast called ‘Eat Like a Fish,’” said Zhang, adding her green chemistry teacher, Susan McCarthy, suggested she research it further. “She got inspired by a project I did in my sophomore year on seaweed. I turned sea lettuce, as a result of too many nutrients in the water, into a biodegradable plastic.”

(Besides McCarthy, Zhang credits her other mentors for supporting her research, including Stephen Zins, head of the Abbey’s science department, which funded all her work; Shane McCarthy, her marine biology teacher; Matthew and Paula Walter, the head of school and dean of student life, respectively; and Emanuele Di Lorenzo, a professor she works with at Brown University.)

Zhang isn’t keeping her research to herself. She’s reached out to local policymakers, kelp farmers, and marine scientists to explore how policy could better support aquaculture. She carried those conversations to Capitol Hill, where she served as a youth representative in the United Nations Ocean Decade and presented her research on kelp’s role in combating ocean pollution to policymakers. In one meeting, she spoke with Rep. Seth Magaziner’s office, advocating for the inclusion of kelp farming in Rhode Island’s blue economy initiatives. At the R.I. Science and Engineering Fair, she also presented her findings on kelp’s impact, opening discussions with local environmental organizations. 

What’s so great about sugar kelp?

The benefits of sugar kelp are many, Zhang said.

“Sugar kelp, according to the research we’ve done, is not only an efficient bio filter, it can also serve as livestock feed, which is proven to be helpful in reducing the greenhouse gas effect from the methane effect you get from the poop of cows and other animals. Sugar kelp can also be served as food for humans. It’s very low calorie, and great diet food.” 

There are several Rhode Island kelp farms, such as Rhody Wild Sea Gardens in Narragansett. Zhang has spoken with the owner, Azure Cygler, who has advised her on how to establish a similar farm in Portsmouth. “Sugar kelp is known for being highly adaptive to different environments, so it basically can grow in a lot of places,” Zhang said.

She had already established a small kelp farm off the Abbey’s west shore, but it had a limited permit and has already been removed. And that’s the biggest obstacle to setting one up — the permit process, along with the response from abutters, she said.

“Some of the things that happened before is that they were trying to massively produce it, but for a lot of coastal residents, they think it’s not pretty: ‘We bought this ocean-view house and we want an ocean view; don’t plant it,’” she said.

One idea she’s been looking into is co-planting sugar kelp along with oysters. “Both of them serve as the cleaners of the ocean. They can absorb the nutrients and turn them into nutrition for themselves, so we believe by putting these two together will specifically benefit the ocean ecosystem’s resiliency here in Rhode Island,” said Zhang, noting that the University of Rhode Island has been working on this goal.

A long way from home

Zhang is originally from China, where her parents still live. She recalls the rigorous academic standards expected of her during her elementary school years in her home country.

“There was a lot of academic preparation which makes you a good student, but not a good person if that makes sense. What you want can get lost, because the only goal you have is getting a 100 on every test,” she said. “Moving forward, I just felt like I needed to find a way of becoming the person I want to be.”

After spending some time in Seattle, she transferred to the Abbey for her sophomore year. “The Abbey has a really strong humanities program, and that’s what really helped me. I didn’t read a single English book before I came here, but the first day I’m here they made me read ‘Purgatorio,’ by Dante (1321). I was fluent in English, but I wasn’t opening a novel to read for three hours,” she said, noting the experience was daunting at first, but learning to understand such literature benefited her going forward.

Despite her research, she does find time for other things at the Abbey. She’s been a member of the Abbey Singers for three years — “We actually sang at Carnegie Hall last year,” she said — performs in winter musicals, and is member of Modern Band, which performs jazz and rock. 

Next fall she’ll attend Stanford University in California. “They have a huge kelp forest there; that’s the part I was really excited about,” she said. She had also considered Harvard University, but that school doesn’t have an ecology class or a marine lab, she said. 

She’s not abandoning Rhode Island, however — not by a long shot. 

“We have this vision that Rhode Island will be leading the environmental industry in the United States in the future. We have this unique geography and very cutting-edge research is going on at Brown, URI, and Roger Williams,” said Zhang, who wants collaborate with local scientists in recommending scientific-based methods to improve ecosystem resiliency to Rhode Island’s Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council.

“The research was established here,” she said of the Ocean State.

Hope for the future

As to why she was chatting with two members of Congress earlier, Zhang explained. 

“They are pointing out that sugar kelp is a very efficient blue carbon credit species that they’re trying to include in policies as an example. Amo has this blue carbon economy bill that’s running in the House right now. And Reed has always been supporting our eco-friendly stuff,” she said. “This is a sign to the Rhode Island people that we can always look around in our environment, look around Narragansett Bay, and see that there’s always something you can do. Everyone can have a say in this process, especially in this climate that we have right now. I just want to share my research — if I can pick it up, you can pick it up.”

At the same time, she’s not too confident Reed or Amo will make much headway with their environmental initiatives with the current administration.

“I really wanted to be an environmental lawyer,” she said. “I’m not sure with this climate, but four years from now maybe things will get better. But I think the more damaged (the environment) is right now, the more need there is for someone to step up and actually do something.”