by 
This past Friday at the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences’ National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota (NCMA) in East Boothbay, Maine, the public was invited to an open house that was also the first Summer of Algae event of 2013.
Reports are that hundreds turned out the visit NCMA facility for tours that featured talks on the importance of maintaining the diversity of NCMA’s collection for future research in the biotechnology industry. Microscopes were also available for the attendees to view the strains close up.
Plenty of algae-related souvenirs were also available. Check out the “Got Algae” shirts in the picture on Bigelow’s Facebook page:
The Summer of Algae is ABO’s annual campaign of open-houses and educational events to raise awareness about the promise of commercial algae production to create jobs, domestic fuels, feed and food products, as well as plastics and biochemicals.
The series of open-house style events and news announcements gives local and national officials an opportunity to experience the research, products and jobs being created by leading algae companies and research institutions.
Read ABO’s press release of last week for a list of participating ABO members.
