This award supports continued collaboration on kelp genetics between the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao. Major goals of the research are to obtain gametophytes with specific characteristics to facilitate genetic manipulation, to develop the technology for cultivating kelp gametophytes that can be seeded on rope, and to use this technique to produce and characterize genetically determined strains of kelp. Kelp are ecologically and commercially important organisms, but study of kelp genetics is still in its infancy. This study brings together interests and capabilities in China and the US to advance our understanding of an important scientific resource.
