Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences

Why vote for Willie Wilson?

"In my role as Director of the NCMA I have
an excellent overview of the algal industry through my interactions with a wide range of industry and academic clients, all interested
in the basics of growing algae for their respective ventures."


Relevant background
Strong academic training at University of Wales, Bangor and University of Warwick (UK), receiving B.S., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in Marine Biology/Biochemistry, Cyanobacteria Genetics, and Algal Viruses, respectively.

Several senior management roles; currently Director of the National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota (NCMA), which houses the largest collection of marine microalgae in the world.

What I see as the biggest opportunities and challenges for the Algal Biomass Industry
Opportunities
To develop a sustainable and carbon-neutral energy resource.

To create value-added natural products for a range of industries such as healthcare, cosmeceuticals, pharmaceuticals, aquaculture, and human and animal nutrition.

Challenges
To make algal biomass production financially viable.

To overcome technical bottlenecks such as: algal strain selection and resilience, dewatering, nutrient supply (including CO₂), and physiological delivery.

Top 3 goals I would like ABO to accomplish
Foster strong bipartisan legislative support of the Algal Biomass Industry.

Encourage strong industry-industry and industry-academic collaborations
to avoid redundancy in technical developments.

Establish a one-stop shop for algal education resources.

How I plan to achieve these goals
Work with Maine politicians (known for their bipartisanship) as a conduit to DC politicians.

Use my role as NCMA Director to help facilitate collaborative links.

Assist in the further development of the allaboutalgae.com website.

Interesting snippets about me
Recently featured on NPR's Radiolab program

I keep pigs and chickens, enjoy curling, and have one foot 2 sizes bigger that the other!


Please remember to vote. Thank you very much for your support.

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences …exploring the world’s ocean,
from microbes to global ecosystems