Student Projects

100% Fish Team

The 100% Fish Utilization team is a collaboration between Southern Connecticut State University, Ideal Fish, and the Long Island Sound Ocean Cluster. Within this collaboration, our team’s mission is to help develop and fine tune the 100% Fish Model in Ideal Fish’s business. Our team is inspired by the system in Iceland as their companies utilize every part of the fish product to be sustainable and maximize economic opportunities. We believe that through our innovative zero-waste program, we can help open the blue economy within Waterbury and New Haven.

Within our collaboration, our team focused on what improvements could be made to the fish usage in Ideal Fish’s closed recirculating aquaculture. The system in use already produces a minimal amount of waste, therefore we decided on using the leftover fishbones to create fishbone broth, as this product would bring Ideal Fish to almost 100% fish usage. Also, there is an open market for this bone broth, as there are not many competitors and Ideal Fish’s unique closed aquaculture system sets our product apart from others.

Currently, we are focusing on working with restaurants as our team has a connection with Whelk, a business focused on serving sustainably grown fish. By connecting our product directly with a restaurant, we are able to collaborate to create a product that would be wanted and utilized by chefs. We wanted our recipe to be simple enough so the consumer can tailor their broth to their own needs and styles. We are looking forward to other upcoming innovations that contribute to a zero-waste system. Our team is looking to potentially add sustainably sourced seaweed that is local to Connecticut as well as bouillon cubes that would not have to be frozen. These various products allow us to incorporate other sustainable materials as well as growing our potential to be sold in grocery stores.

Our team includes Gabriela Triay, Vanessa Heigel, and Mackenzie Wolcheski along with our mentor Michaela Garland. Gabriela Triay is a graduate student who is a part of the ESSS department and is majoring in Environmental Studies. She also is a part of Project Blue as a Graduate Assistant where she works closely with our team, on the digital marketing aspects of Project Blue and more. Next is Vanessa Heigel who is a sophomore in the ESSS department and is specialized in Environmental Systems. Last but not least is our graphic designer, Mackenzie Wolcheski who is majoring in Graphic Design is working on creating all of our designs for packaging as well as flyers.

Deep Blu Chu LLC

Deep Blu Chu LLC was established by Daniel Andrien and Jesse Davidson. Daniel is an Environmental Systems and Sustainability major with a concentration in Coastal Marine Studies while Jesse is a Biochemistry major. Both students were introduced through Project Blue at Southern Connecticut State University with a common goal in mind. They both used their passion for sustainability and the environment to create a plan to help the world with an innovative product. Thus, they founded Deep Blu Chu LLC whose primary product is a multivitamin gummy made from sugar kelp and red algae that is locally grown in New England.

The idea for this product was to utilize the emerging seaweed farming industry in the New England coastal region to aid in the goals of carbon sequestration and improved water quality. The kelp multivitamin gummy that Deep Blu Chu LLC offers will provide demand for more kelp and red algae to be grown, which in turn, supports local economies and environments. This allows growth for a more sustainable ocean-based industry than current practices.

Through extensive market research Deep Blu Chu LLC discovered that there are no other kelp multivitamins in gummy form on the market. Other consumer choices are also most often not vegan. Deep Blu Chu LLC’s multivitamin gummy is vegan and sustainably sourced with products only from the New England costal region. The gummy is also high in omega-3 fatty acids that are usually not attainable from a vegan supplement.

Deep Blu Chu LLC aims to continue research and development to produce more products utilizing the seaweed aquaculture industry in New England. The company aims to keep sustainability, equity, and ethics at the forefront of our concerns in the continued development of our products and business.

Daniel Andrien and Jesse Davidson are co-owners of Deep Blu Chu LLC. Daniel is the head of business, marketing, and sustainability concerns while Jesse oversees research and development. Both students are eager to see where the company will take them and how they can change New England with their innovative product.

Kelp Fest 2021

The Kelp Fest 2021 Events' main purpose is to help promote, educate, and celebrate Southern New England’s seaweed industry through a variety of kelp-inspired related events. This is to showcase the Kelp Fest to the local community as well as bring overall awareness to the rapidly expanding seaweed Industry.

The Kelp Fest 2021 also gives opportunities for Southern New England seaweed farmers and other seafood-related businesses, initiatives, and nonprofits to share ideas, their knowledge, products, services, and programs. The goal of this festival will not only spike a community interest and increase awareness of the kelp industry, but it will also give a chance to bring the community together in different and safe ways to celebrate, showcase, and contribute to the development and continued growth of this emerging Blue Economy sector.

The purpose of Kelp Fest is to showcase kelp as well as hear from a couple of experienced seaweed experts in the industry from a local business in relation to kelp and potentially taste and unique seaweed-based products produced on the SCSU campus an increased awareness and recognition of all the values and benefits the kelp industry contains.

We're trying to provide an avenue for the Southern New England Kelp Industry to create and maintain an interest in the kelp/seaweed industry as a viable option for generating environmental, social, and economic benefits.

Kraken

With the leadership and creative support of Project Blue, the “Kelp Soda Team” consisting of Tyler Carey’22 (Chief Executive Officer) , Noelle King ’22 (Vice President), Maeve Pierce’22 (Head of Marketing and Design), are excited to introduce: Kraken Soda Co; A soda company dedicated to utilizing locally sourced, nutrient dense sugar kelp to create a nourishing and delicious soda line.

Kraken will reinvent the plain seltzer drink. Kraken seltzer is unique in that it’s centered around the highly nutritious sugar kelp, which is locally farmed within Long Island Sound. As sustainability is at the forefront of our brand, we wanted to highlight the flavors that were local to us. By working with local farmers, we are using four local favorite flavors in our seltzers: apple, cranberry, strawberry, and blueberry. The mix of kelp extract and locally sourced fruits makes for a delicious and healthful drink.

As we constructed the foundation that would soon become Kraken, it became increasingly obvious we desired to create a product that does not “contribute to the problem” of pollution and waste. Sustainability, ecology, and conservation were and will continue to be at the forefront of our minds as we further develop our company. We created a set of standards and ethics that as we develop, we will consistently adhere to:

1. We, to the best of our ability, shall minimize our carbon footprint by means such as:
   1. Purchasing cans, labels, and other packaging products that are either biodegradable, ethically sourced, recycled or upcycled, or completely regenerative in nature.
2. We, to the best of our ability, will ensure fair and ethical sourcing of produce with an emphasis on locally grown agriculture.
   1. i.e., sourcing fruits from local Connecticut farms that are in line with our sustainability goals.
3. We, when necessary, shall hire and pay all full-time employees at the very least the average cost of living in our specific area.
   1. This clause shall also be the standard practice for all those we partner with and outsource production too.

Our product is still very much in its infancy phase. We have spent most of our energy producing and defining our company’s ethos, applying, and receiving patents, copyrights, and incorporating as an LLC, as well as creating our brand image and production partnerships. We are still hard at work developing a recipe and sourcing necessary infrastructure to produce our product. With the timeline we are created, we are hoping to launch into the market-stream by June ’22. We cannot wait to bring this soda to a store near you.

Neptunian

Neptunian, a mobile interface designed to connect local aquaculture producers with local aquaculture consumers, began as a method to address the lack of technological innovation in the Blue Economy. There is currently no app dedicated to this niche eCommerce market, cutting off access for aquaculture farmers to advertise their hard efforts to develop and sell sustainable products.

Neptunian is a catalyst for change in the sustainable marine sector by providing a space for aquaculture enthusiasts to share ideas, network, and openly discuss aquaculture-related issues. The newfound accessibility that Neptunian offers opens a sense of community while supporting sustainable topics of interest in local shoreline communities.

Neptunian’s main goal remains the same: incorporating sustainable innovation into the mainstream by increasing access to local aquaculture products to Connecticut’s shoreline consumers. The Connecticut Seafood Survey, a survey that summarizes local preferences of seafood in Connecticut, found that “the majority (91%) of respondents consume seafood but raises questions about the degree of consumer knowledge about the availability and variety of local seafood products, as well as their familiarity with how Connecticut seafood is captured or grown” (Getchis, et.al, 2020). Through the creation of a mobile eCommerce site, Neptunian directly addresses these questions with the ease of one’s hand.

Neptunian helps to increase the degree of consumer knowledge in the availability and variety of local aquaculture products while increasing consumer knowledge about the benefits of investing in sustainable aquaculture.

Shuck N’ Cluck

The Project Blue Student Innovation Team consisting of Suzanne Aruri, Jordan Davey, and Miranda Holland is excited to debut their company: Seassential Supplements, a brand committed to repurposing restaurant waste into safe, healthy, and environmentally conscious animal supplements. Seassential Supplements’ initial product is Shuck N’ Cluck, a calcium supplement for chickens made from oyster, clam, mussel and scallop shells as well as sugar kelp. All the shells used in this product are sourced from local restaurants, preventing them from becoming waste. The brand aims to live by their slogan, “From farm, to table, to farm again”, taking shellfish products served in restaurants and returning them back to a farm. Shuck  N’  Cluck sets itself apart from other competing products on the market by combining the benefits of both shellfish and kelp in one all-encompassing product at a fraction of the cost of the competitors. Not only does adding kelp to the product provide additional nutritional benefits, but it also creates a new market for the ever-growing sugar kelp industry.

Seassential Supplements got its start when three like-minded women came together with a common goal: reduce waste and help the environment. The task at the beginning of summer 2021 was simple; reimagine the oyster industry. After much brainstorming, the contribution of Randy’s expertise in backyard chicken farms, and Suzanne’s abundant knowledge of restaurant waste, Shuck N’ Cluck was born. The team worked tirelessly throughout the summer to develop a prototype product made from oysters, clams, mussels, and sugar kelp that was generously donated by GreenWave to Project Blue. Currently, the team is working to secure an industry partner both with restaurants and kelp farmers to continue to develop this product.

As the fall semester is underway, the Seassential Supplements team is still hard at work securing an LLC with the state of Connecticut as well as relevant copywrites and/or trademarks.   While the team is busy perfecting Shuck N’ Cluck, there are plans for expansion in the horizon.  Seassential Supplements hope to expand beyond backyard chickens to products suitable for a wider array of animals while maintaining the “from farm, to table, to farm again” mission.

Suzanne is currently a senior at Southern Connecticut State University who is a tentative Spring 2022 graduate with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Marine Studies. She hopes to continue to develop Seassential Supplements as a graduate student at SCSU in 2022 with the Department of the Environment, Geography and Marine Sciences.

Jordan is currently a junior at Southern Connecticut State University and plans to graduate in Spring 2023 with a B.S in Environmental Systems and Sustainability. She hopes to continue with the development of Seassential Supplements with the Department of Environment, Geography and Marine Sciences and is excited to see where it will go. In her free time, she enjoys reading and hanging out with friends.

Randy is currently in her final undergraduate semester at Southern Connecticut State University for a B.S. in Environmental Systems and Sustainability Studies and a minor in Biology. Once she graduates in December 2021, she will continue her education at SCSU with a M.S. in Integrated Biological Diversity researching biodiversity impacts of regenerative ocean farming. In her free time, Randy enjoys playing video games, Dungeons and Dragons, and rollerblading.