2025 Annual Convening

• 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM – Registration
• 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM – By Invitation Workshop: Engaging Communities and Building Trust
  • John Godec, president and owner of Godec, Randall & Associates Inc. (GRA) and founder of The Participation Company LLC.
• 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Registration
• 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Welcome Reception (heavy hors d’oeuvres)

• 7:00 AM – 2:30 PM – Registration Continues
• 7:00 AM – 8:30 AM – Breakfast
• 8:30 AM – Welcome
  • Dr. Antonius Gagern, Carbon to Sea
• 8:40 AM – Scientific Research Progress and Updates
  • Dr. David Keller, Carbon to Sea
  • Dr. Lennart Bach, University of Tasmania
  • Dr. Dariia Atamanchuk, Dalhousie University
  • Dr. Adam Subhas, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
  • Dr. Mijndert van der Speek, Heriot-Watt University
• 10:40 AM – Coffee
• 11:00 AM – Exploring Diverse Stakeholder Perspectives
  • Diane Hoskins, Carbon to Sea
  • Derek Brockbank, Coastal States Organization
  • Dr. Simone Stewart, National Wildlife Federation
  • Dr. Frauke Kracke, Frontier Climate
  • Dr. Fatima Vahlsing, Ocean Conservancy
• 12:10 PM – Lunch poster sessions
• Poster Sessions, Group A
  • Dr. Stefano Caserini, “pH-Equilibrated Ocean Alkalinization for CO₂ storage and removal”
  • Sam Fawcett, “A Comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessment Framework For Field Trials”
  • Jiaying Guo, “Effects of OAE on Plankton in the Equatorial Pacific”
  • Dr. Laura Haynes, “OAE Increases Calcification of a Planktic Foraminifera Species”
  • Jacki Long, “Advancing OAE through Community-Driven Data Management Protocol”
  • Dr. Melissa Melendez, “OAE Ecosystem Experiments”
  • Dr. Paul Ohodnicki, “Hybrid Distributed pH, CO₂, Temperature, and Acoustic Sensing for MRV”
  • Jennie Rheuban, “Site Selection Indices for OAE Field Trials”
  • Dr. Claudio Adrian Ruiz Torres, “Ultra-Thin Cation-Exchange and Bipolar Membranes for Efficient and Scalable OAE”
  • Kirby Simon, “Laboratory and In-Situ Particle Analysis from the Halifax OAE Field Trial”
  • Laura Stieghorst, “Organizational Lessons from the Halifax Joint Learning Opportunity”
  • Dr. Mijndert van der Spek, “A spatially and temporally explicit framework for TEA and LCA of OAE”
• Poster Sessions, Group B
  • Dr. Grace Andrews, “Framework for Ecotoxicological Modeling of mCDR (FEMM)”
  • Lennart Bach, “Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Pelagic Impact Intercomparison Project (OAEPIIP)”
  • Ellen Briggs, “Modernizing Analytical Measurement of Marine Inorganic Carbon”
  • Dr. B.B. Cael, “OAE Research at the University of Chicago”
  • Rocco D’Ascanio, “Neutralization of Acidic OAE Byproduct Paired to Recovery of Valuable Metals from Crushed Rock”
  • Dr. Charles de Lannoy, “Estimating $/ton CO2 on a Full-Plant-Scale Electrochemical OAE”
  • Ruth Driscoll-Lovejoy, “mCDR: Getting Evidence for Decision Making This Decade”
  • James Gately, “OAE Promotes the Proliferation of Marine Parasites and Alters Seasonal Microbial Communities”
  • Fiona Griffin, “Innovative Software Solutions for Effective oCDR”
  • Dr. Jens Hartmann, “Stability of Alkalinity in the Land-Ocean Transition Zone”
  • Dr. Abby Lunstrum, “Sediment Retention of Added Alkalinity Reduces the Efficacy of OAE”
  • Dr. Elliott Roberts, “Summertime Net Community Production (NCP) via Underway Measurements of O₂/Ar”
  • Eric Siegel, “Research to Advance mCDR and MRV in Canada”
• 2:00 PM – Keynote Address
  • Kim Stanley Robinson, author
• 2:45 PM – Actionable Vision for the Next 24 Months (Part 1)
  • Noah Deich, RMI
  • Major Announcements:
    • Emily Rogers, 3rd Derivative
    • Erin Burns, C180
    • Anu Khan, Carbon Removal Standards Initiative
    • Dr. Alicia Karspeck, CWorthy
    • Nick Kleinert, Carbon to Sea
    • Kelly Oskvig, NASEM
    • Dr. Grace Andrews, Hourglass Climate
    • Ruth Driscoll-Lovejoy, Ocean Visions
    • Dr. Sophie Gill, Isometric
    • Eric Siegel, OFI
• 3:30 PM – Coffee
• 3:50 PM – Actionable Vision for the Next 24 Months (Part 2)
  • Christoph Beutler, Carbon Gap
  • Selected Case Studies from Industry:
  • Dr. Allan Adams, Aquatic Labs
  • Dr. Edmund Halfyard, CarbonRun
  • Dr. Will Burt, Planetary
  • Dr. Florian Brinkmann, Planeteers
  • Dr. Noah Planavsky CREW Carbon
  • Dr. Steve Romaniello, Vesta
• 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM – Happy hour reception

• 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM – Breakfast
• 8:30 AM – Selected Workshops
  • Assessing OAE MRV Readiness and Improvement Opportunities (located in Shaw A)​​
  • This workshop, facilitated by Anna Madlener of Carbon to Sea, will explore what targeted, time-bound interventions could improve trust in model-based quantification, reduce uncertainty in efficiency loss estimates, and support generating the evidence base required by governments to assess OAE’s readiness for inclusion in future procurement.

    Workshop outcomes will inform whether Carbon to Sea should further pursue a targeted program concept that will be stress-tested during breakout groups or whether identification of alternative strategies are needed to strengthen MRV system evaluation across the field. The workshop will also feature presentations by Veronica Tamsitt, Mike Tyka, and Will Burt.

  • Community Engagement Clinic (located in Horne)
  • This workshop, facilitated by Tracey Brown of Sense about Science, will look at how to develop an enabling, pragmatic approach to community engagement. We will draw from experiences across a range of sectors and international case studies, to consider the opportunities and the challenges when engaging communities and other stakeholders, and to set ambitions that are accountable and practical.

    Participants will have an opportunity to trouble shoot their own approaches, and discuss where effort is best directed, and to connect with a plan to co-create a framework for engagement at the SeaCURE facility.

• 11:30 AM – Lunch
• 1:00 PM – Selected Workshops
  • Adding Value through Coordinated Field Research Agenda (located in Shaw A)
  • Field research is essential to understand ocean alkalinity enhancement’s viability in the real world.

    This workshop, facilitated by Dr. Antonius Gagern and Nick Kleinert of Carbon to Sea, will develop a first-in-kind global field research and development agenda, including deep dives into feedstocks, ecological monitoring, MRV, community engagement, and economics. It will consider different stages of field research and how we should think about scaling to inform an upcoming Global Field Research RFP. Finally, attendees will design high-impact initiatives to drive coordination and accelerate learning across a network.

  • Community Preview: Environmental Impact Monitoring Framework for OAE (located in Horne)
  • This workshop, facilitated by Dr. David Keller, Samuel Fawcett, and Dr. Nina Bednarsek, will focus on advancing responsible approaches to ocean alkalinity enhancement field trials. We will introduce a developing framework for environmental impact monitoring, recently subjected to its first critical review. We will then explore key points of contention and ambiguity raised during that review, encouraging open dialogue around these complex issues. In the second half, participants will engage in a collaborative brainstorming exercise to define what constitutes an unacceptable environmental impact and to identify potential mitigation strategies if one is detected.

    These conversations are designed to foster transparency, solicit broad input, and guide the development of robust environmental monitoring practices.

• 4:00 PM – Hill Day Prep
  • Hill day participants will prepare for their meetings.
  • Location: Courtyard Washington Downtown
• 5:30 PM – Closing
  • Annual Convening programming concludes

By Invitation: Capitol Hill Day

• 8:00 AM – Breakfast Briefing and Groups Prepare for Meetings
  • Location: Le Méridien Washington, D.C., The Madison, located at 1177 15th St NW, Washington, DC 20005.
• 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – Scheduled Meetings
  • Confirmed attendees will participate in organized meetings with Congressional staff to educate them about ocean science efforts underway and federal needs related to ocean-based carbon dioxide removal. Individual group schedules will vary.