Crystal Weaver

Hi Oscar, great question! And you are quite right, this idea has been used in agriculture for a surprisingly long time. Via the website of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University: "As early as 1879, fungi from this genus [Metarhizium] were being evaluated for control of wheat chafer beetles, Anisoplia austriaca, and sugar beet curculio, Cleonus punctiventris, in Ukraine." Farmers today are also still invested in the development of this tech, as the demand for "natural" means of weed and pest control continues to grow.

Excellent question, Matt! Frankly: we just don't know yet. It could be that the plant's genetics determine how well it responds to specific microbe species, meaning whatever cohort we find might only work in Northern California. Or perhaps it's far broader, and could help eelgrass worldwide, or even other species of sea grasses...? Either way, I expect that this research will (at the very least) streamline the process of finding "beneficial cohorts" in other seagrass systems around the world. This is a a totally new technique in marine plant restoration, and we'll have to many more tests before we know how it all works... But the potential is incredibly exciting!! Thanks for your question, and thanks for your support!

Thanks, Cindy! Yes, plenty more to come, soon...! ;)