Blue Evolution; Pioneering Seaweed Mariculture in Alaska

Tammsen Peeples was born and raised amongst the wild woods and shoreline of North Douglas. During high school she was selected as a Rotary Youth Ambassador to New Zealand where she quickly fell in love with the country, culture, and beaches. After graduating from JDHS in 2007 Tamsen studied marine biology at the University of California Santa Cruz (go Banana Slugs!). During her studies she furthered her love of the ocean by interning at the Alaska SeaLife Center, conducting field studies along the coast of California, logging nearly 100 dives, and travelling to Corsica to study cuttlefish. In 2011 she graduated USCS and immediately hopped on the next plane back to New Zealand. She spent a year volunteering with the University of Auckland’s Leigh Marine lab, assisting in various graduate and doctorate studies. Eventually her visa ran out and she returned to Alaska to begin a career as a biologist. She worked as a lab technician for NOAA and as an Underwater Specialist for Lindblad National Geographic Tours before signing on with Blue Evolution in spring 2015. She currently works full time out of the UAS Anderson Building, as Blue Evolution’s only employee in the state, developing and adapting commercial seaweed mariculture techniques for Alaska.