Speaker Event: Restoration of the Sunflower Sea Star with Reuven Bank

Sunflower Star Laboratory (SSL) is a conservation aquaculture nonprofit dedicated to restoring the critically-endangered Sunflower Star and saving California's kelp forests. SSL was formed in 2021 by concerned community members who watched California's kelp forests disappear before their eyes and were inspired to take action.

In 2013–14, one of the largest marine disease outbreaks on record decimated sea star populations along the West Coast, turning over six billion Sunflower Stars into goo and rendering them functionally extinct in California. In part because of the loss of this keystone urchin predator, over 96% of Northern California's kelp forests have disappeared in the last decade. 

Come learn about how Sunflower Star Laboratory is currently raising part of the first cohort of human-reared juvenile Sunflower Stars in California, conducting scientific research, and coordinating Sunflower Star recovery with partner institutions across North America, working to build kelp forest resilience with coastal communities across our…