We are looking for a Seaweed Cultivation Hero intern!

2021-03-31

Who are we?

As a non-profit community of businesses with a passion for seaweed, North Sea Farmers work towards positive climate impact. By accelerating and strengthening a sustainable seaweed sector in the Netherlands and Europe, we aim to improve biodiversity, reduce carbon emissions and be part of the circular economy.

To achieve this, we are building a North Sea Farmers community with companies, entrepreneurs and other pioneering organizations to share knowledge and to speed up developments. The North Sea Farmers community is full of seaweed-lovers and seaweed-heroes.  

To gain new insights and knowledge in the world of seaweed, we have our own Offshore Test Site: a test and research location in the North Sea of 6 km2. Located 12 kilometres off the coast of Scheveningen, this plot allows us to actively work towards our dream: 400 km2 of seaweed farms in between wind parks.

Meet some of your colleagues 👆 Zinzi Reimert (middle) & Eef Brouwers (right).

 

Why seaweed?

Both the climate crisis and the growth of the world population challenge us to look for new solutions. The cultivation of seaweed is an extraordinary opportunity: to grow seaweed there is no need for any land, fresh water or fertilizers. Therefore, it is one of the most sustainable crops to cultivate.

Seaweed is a very versatile and nutritious plant that can be used for all kinds of (sustainable) applications: food for humans, animals and plants, packaging material, medicine and even biogas. Therefore, we are working towards a sector that produces high-quality, safe and local seaweed in a nature-inclusive and innovative way.

Our vision? Seaweed farms at sea that strive for synergy between nature, food and energy, located between the offshore wind turbines. By combining these different activities, we can make multiple use of the space at sea: so called ‘multi-use at sea’.

What are you going to do?

You will be part of the Offshore Test Site-team; learning all the ins- and outs of offshore seaweed cultivation. You will work on projects to research the requirements of cultivation and processing of seaweed for current and future seaweed farmers. You will be in contact with a lot of different stakeholders, allowing you to really deep dive in the seaweed world. On our Offshore Test Site, we run four different pilots. These projects support multi-use of space: from seaweed farming to floating solar to nature restoration.

You will help our OTS-coordinator with the needs for the projects. Examples are:

  • Contributions to setting up a thorough systems engineering process;
  • Setting up databases for, among other things, safe innovation at the OTS;
  • Professionalising the risk and requirements register for seaweed cultivation; multi-use installations within offshore wind farms and developing knowledge databases.
  • Analyses of the retrieved data we get form our smart measuring buoys.

You will work in close collaboration with the other North Sea Farmers within our community.

What do you bring to the table?
  • You work precise and at the same time you can see the bigger picture;
  • You have a hands-on mentality and are able to work independently;
  • You are social and dare to approach people;
  • You can speak both Dutch and English appropriately
  • You are a MSc student with an appropriate profile, such as engineering, management of technology or the technical side of aquaculture;
  • You are interested in the process-related side of technology and the offshore sector;
  • You are available from May onwards for six months period (full-time) in The Hague (depending on the current RIVM guidelines).

 

What do we have to offer?
  • A challenging and varied internship for a unique organisation with a mission;
  • A scale-up organisation with a motivated team that does not only talk, but gets things done;
  • A full-time internship allowance of € 275 (gross) per month.

 

Do you have what it takes to become our newest Seaweed Cultivation Hero in May 2021? Then join our movement, become a North Sea Farmer and be part of the solution!

We can imagine you still have some questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an e-mail!  Send your letter of motivation and CV before April 30 by e-mail to info@northseafarmers.org

 

What’s going on here? Indeed!  This is our Offshore Test Site, where we test and demonstrate the possibilities of seaweed cultivation.

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