Information about the Competition
The AlgaePrize competition is open to teams of two or more students currently enrolled in a U.S.-based high school, community college, college, university, or graduate program. The competition spans two academic years. Students will learn about the algae industry and will go on to support the nation’s biofuel research, algal commercial enhancement, and promote industry-driven education, training, and workforce development. The AlgaePrize will assist in establishing the competitors as serious candidates for the next generation of bioeconomy positions and entrepreneurial opportunities.
The three areas of interest for the AlgaePrize include both microalgae and macroalgae. Student teams should focus their project on one of the following areas of interest:
- Production
- Downstream Processing
- Novel Products or Analytical Tools
Competitors will prepare creative solutions for real-world issues in the algae value chain. Students will compete to earn prize money and national recognition.
Watch and share how 15 finalist student teams converged over 3 days in 2023 for 1 shared goal at the inaugural competition: Showing the power of algae to help solve the energy, food, economic, and climate challenges facing our world today.
See below for the current AlgaePrize 2023–2025 finalist team names, locations, and brief descriptions of their proposed projects:
AlgaeNano+, San Juan, Puerto Rico: Developing carbon nanomaterials from macroalgae for use in high-demand industries like battery manufacturing, energy, and environmental remediation.
AlgaeUnlocked, Carbondale, Illinois: Exploring a low-energy, cost-effective, and efficient process for preparing microalgae for conversion into biostimulants and biofuels.
Algators, Livingston, New Jersey: Investigating algal biomass as an alternative nonsynthetic fertilizer for a local farm.
Aloha Limu, Hilo, Hawaii: Studying vertical seaweed cultivation methods to diversify and scale up production of native Hawaiian macroalgal species.
BlazerBloom, Frederick, Maryland: Using bioflocculation with magnetotactic bacteria to harvest and dewater microalgae for conversion into biofuels production.
Blue Genes, Fairfield, California: Creating an algae-derived dye with a focus on process optimization, improving output, and as a method to teach the community about algal products.
Clean Green Feed, Storrs, Connecticut: Producing a sustainable strain of microalgae high in methionine for use in chicken feeds.
Green Skies, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Applying machine-learning techniques to analyze land suitability, water stress, and economic factors to identify the best sites for Midwest microalgae growth.
Green Thumbs, Golden, Colorado: Working to improve the harvestability of saltwater microalgae by using a novel pH-mediated-electroflocculation method
JCCC Chlorella Cavaliers, Overland Park, Kansas: Developing a novel strain of Chlorella expressing plastic degrading enzymes to improve water quality in ecosystems.
Just AD Algae, Santa Fe, New Mexico: Preparing a scalable system to codigest microalgae with organic lipid waste resulting in decreased biogas production lag and increased biogas yield.
KelBerry, Storrs, Connecticut: Employing sugar kelp alginate as an edible food coating to extend strawberry shelf life.
Parachlorella Plastic Pals, La Jolla, California: Creating algae-based, biodegradable thermoplastic polyurethanes.
Team ASAP, Camas, Washington; Los Angeles and Irvine, California: Developing an efficient and scalable process for the industrialization of sporophyte generation.
The Algenius Thinkers, Austin, Texas: Studying the production of long-chain fatty acids from algae into short-chain fatty acids for lower biofuel production costs.
Learn more by visiting the official AlgaePrize 2023–2025 Competition site or by emailing algaeprize@thealgaefoundation.org.
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