BSc Minor Seagriculture (WUSEA) / BSc

Profile

Seagriculture is rapidly gaining worldwide interest as one of the pillars of a biobased economy. It includes aspects of seaweed physiology and production, the marine ecological context, biorefinery, scenarios for the value chain, combination with other ecosystem services and economic activities, and safety and governance issues. The goal of this minor is to provide students with knowledge and insights on sustainable seaweed production and value creation of seaweed biomass.
The minor starts with the course Marine Systems, that focuses on unravelling the key mechanisms that determine sustainability of the human use of marine ecosystems. This is followed by a course on the botany and production of seaweed for food and non-food purposes that also tackles the question what the production system should look like and how to improve the performance while reducing risks. The minor continues with a course that addresses sustainable seaweed chains, aiming to give insight in the development of an ecologically and economically sustainable seaweed value chain. The minor is concluded by an integrative course on seaweed production in the marine environment, including the sustainability challenges and possible combinations of seaweed with other marine ecosystem services. This BSc minor is a thematic minor.

Learning Outcomes

After successful completion of this minor students are expected to be able to:
- understand the value creation in the seaweed chain from biological, ecological, technological and socio-economic disciplines (these contexts will determine limitation and opportunities);
- understand how the seaweed chain can be developed in an ecologically and economically sustainable way, and what value creation innovations are possible and needed within the whole chain (such as biorefinery challenges, as well as other product innovations for the market);
- understand the challenges to combine seaweed production with other forms of economic activities at sea;
- understanding the sustainability challenges involved in sea weed production and value creation;
- integrate and use knowledge and skills of the mentioned disciplines in specific cases of seaweed production and societal, economic and ecological value creation.

Language of Instruction

English.

BSc Minor Coordinator

Dr. G.J. Kuipers
Phone: 0317-(4)82839
Email: anja.kuipers@wur.nl

Target Group

This minor is interesting for:
Students of BPW, BBI, BAT, BIL, and others (VWO-level knowledge of general biology is required). Bachelor students in general biology , life sciences, natural sciences etc.