I love seaweeds. I lived a charmed childhood on the seashore of Vancouver Island where I had seaweeds galore to wear in imaginative (if a bit smelly) fashion shows or hurl at my siblings, situation dependent. This love continues today. Below you can find links to my seaweed field guides and seaweed scientific papers published during my Ph.D.
Seaweed Publications for a Popular Audience
Pacific Seaweeds: A Guide to Common Seaweeds of the West Coast
Written with my longtime mentor and kelp world expert Dr. Louis Druehl, this updated and expanded guide (to Louis’ original 2002 edition of Pacific Seaweeds) thoroughly documents every aspect of seaweed life, from species identification and seaweed biology to the essential—and often surprising—roles seaweed plays in the marine ecosystem and our everyday lives. Seaweeds are used in everything from cosmetics to sustainable biofuels, and some species, like kelp, contribute to the remediation of coastal ecosystems.
Features 247 seaweed species in 121 genera, which breaks down to 40 species of greens, 119 reds, 78 browns, 5 seagrasses and 5 shore plants. Lots to explore!
Interested? You can find the book on the Harbour Publishing Website or buy it from Amazon.
A Field Guide to Seaweeds of the Pacific Northwest
The pocket-sized Field Guide to Seaweeds of the Pacifc Northwest is packed with full-colour photos and information on a select variety of the most important and interesting seaweeds commonly encountered on the West Coast. Whether you want to identify seaweeds, better understand their role in the ocean, forage for food, collect for art or you’re just plain curious as you poke around the seashore, this educational guide is your ultimate source for casual phycological fun.
Features 50 colour photos.
Interested? You can find the book on the Harbour Publishing Website or buy it from Amazon.
Ph.D. Research
The focus of my PhD research was on resolving species diversity within the red algal family Kallymeniaceae (Rhodophyta; Florideophyceae) in Canada using an integrated taxonomic approach.
SCUBA diving is the most amazing activity imaginable, in my opinion, and my time in the Saunders Lab gave me plenty of experience as a scientific diver. From the open ocean swells around Western Vancouver Island, B.C. to the frigid cold waters of Churchill, Manitoba, and even to the Hawaiian Islands, in the last few years I have collected seaweeds from just about everywhere. If I can’t be found at work, I’m probably diving…or at least wishing I was.
Hey, was lucky enough to discover my first new species and named it after Tim Burton. Here’s an aritcle about that (CBC article)
Peer-Reviewed Publications on Seaweeds
Clarkston, B.E. and Saunders, G.W. 2013. Resolving species diversity in the red algal genus Callophyllis (Gigartinales, Floroideophyceae) in Canada using molecular assisted alpha taxonomy. European Journal of Phycology, 48(1): 27-46. European J Phy 2013 Clarkston pdf
Clarkston, B.E. and Saunders, G.W. 2012. An examination of the red algal genus Pugetia (Kallymeniaceae, Gigartinales) with descriptions of Salishia firma gen. et comb. nov., Pugetia cryptica sp. nov., and Beringia wynnei sp. nov. Phycologia 51(1): 33–61.Phycol 2012 Clarkston pdf
Clarkston, B.E. and Saunders, G.W. 2010. A comparison of two DNA barcode markers for species discrimination in the red algal family Kallymeniaceae (Gigartinales, Florideophyceae), with a description of Euthora timburtonii sp.nov. Botany 88(2): 119-131. Botany 2010 Clarkston pdf