In this episode of Plan Sea, hosts Anna Madlener and Wil Burns are joined by two leading ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) researchers: Dr. Jaime Palter from the University of Rhode Island’s School of Oceanography and Dr. Dariia Atamanchuk from Dalhousie University’s Department of Oceanography. Palter and Atamanchuk — who both lead research field sites studying OAE and both part of Carbon to Sea’s Field Research Steering Committee — share some of their initial findings during this episode. 

Palter is leading a three-year program funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that focuses on the impact of alkaline materials in a shallow coastal environment. The project is a study of carbonate chemistry effects in a coastal lagoon from an adjacent golf course’s limestone addition to its soils. Atamanchuk is the co-investigator of Alk-Align, a Carbon to Sea funded research project that studies the effects of alkalinity releases by Planetary Technologies in Halifax Harbor, Canada. 

Both researchers provide insights on why field research is crucial to understand how OAE works in a complex and uncontrolled environment. They also discuss how some of their early insights may be translated into monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) practices, while also acknowledging the need for a broader and interdisciplinary set of actors to ensure those practices are scientifically robust, yet also actionable and affordable. Plan Sea’s hosts also agreed with them on the potential for collaboration between enhanced rock weathering (ERW) and OAE as well as the importance of cross-sectoral and inter-agency partnerships to advance these fields.

To hear more about these two exciting OAE field trials, listen to the full episode above, subscribe with your favorite podcast service, or find the entire series here.

Finally, we would like to hear from you over the Holiday break! Let us know what 2024 milestone we should be celebrating or what you hope to see in 2025 by leaving us a voice message here that may be used in our next episode!


Plan Sea is a semi-weekly podcast exploring ocean-based climate solutions, brought to you by the Carbon to Sea Initiative & the American University Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal.