Louis Druehl

Louis D. Druehl (BSc WSU, MSc UW, PhD UBC) first initiated kelp farming outside of Asia in 1982. Since then he has introduced several new kelp species to cultivation, devised advanced kelp farming techniques, and advised First Nations, governments, NGOs and private sector groups on kelp farming and related topics. Presently, he is exploring techniques improving the production of kelp seed at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. Canadian Kelp Resources, Ltd. (www.canadiankelp.com), operated with his partner, Rae Hopkins, has provided a range of kelp-based sea vegetables through its distributors, PSC Natural Foods and Horizon Distributors, since 1982 and more recently through e-commerce. Presently, CKR supplies leading BC hotels and restaurants kelp products.

Dr. Druehl taught marine botany to SFU students for 35 years. He has published numerous referred articles on kelp ecology, physiology, and genetics. He continues a 40-year collaboration with Japanese kelp researchers. His Pacific Seaweeds (2000, Harbour Publishing) was a Canadian best seller, and the revised issue, with Bridgette Clarkston, (2016, Harbour Publishing) placed third in the 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards for Natural History in North America. His graduate students have advanced understanding of molecular evolution of kelp, including the placement of kelp in the group Protista (not plants!), establishing the recent evolution of this group and totally revising the taxonomy of kelp. Dr. Druehl’s role has been recognized by the naming of a kelp genus, Druehlia (short-lived, now Eualaria), a kelp species, Saccharina druehlii, and a genus of diatoms, Druehlago.