About
Josie Iselin, Ocean’s Edge 3
Above/Below is an ocean literacy campaign to raise awareness about kelp forests across the Northeastern Pacific. This webstory, The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp, is currently the centerpiece of our campaign—celebrating the power of art and science to tell the bull kelp story.
Our mission is to celebrate the wonder of bull kelp and the biodiversity it supports; to inspire curiosity about the bull kelp forest through art, science, food and film; and to deepen our relationship with these extraordinary marine algae, inspiring new ways to care for, protect, and learn from these ocean forests.
Through a series of creative communications and outreach initiatives over the next few years, the Above/Below campaign aims to tell the story of bull kelp across its entire bioregion—from Monterey to the coasts of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska—as well as to connect and amplify the collective voices and impact of the regionally-specific work underway on behalf of bull kelp forests coastwide. We believe that by combining art and science through creative storytelling strategies, we can share the importance of kelp forests with a broad audience, inspire engagement in local community action, and foster a culture of ocean stewardship over the long term.
Above/Below believes in the power of art to create a sense of wonder and foster curiosity about the ecology of the ocean’s kelp forests. Art creates spaces for ideas and people to gather, learn, ask questions, and connect. When the art is inspired by bull kelp and its stories—magic happens!
Above/Below Co-Directors
We are inspired to tell the bull kelp story of our northern Pacific Ocean because we have both grown to love and respect this majestic algal species and the myriad organisms that depend upon it. Its combination of beauty and mystery inspire the artist’s eye and storyteller’s heart. Its combination of resilience with vulnerability activates concern for its important, yet under-recognized, place in the oceans. Through the translucent imagery, thoughtful design, and lyrical storytelling of these pages, we hope to bring a wider swath of the human world into this realm beneath the waves to better understand and engage with the mysterious world of bull kelp.
Josie Iselin is an artist, author, and designer who has been telling seaweed and kelp stories for over a decade. Her two books An Ocean Garden: The Secret Life of Seaweed (2014, reprinted 2023) and The Curious World of Seaweed (Heyday 2019), tap her profound understanding of seaweed natural history and her deep connections within the seaweed science community. Her work is an extraordinary expression of both art and science. Josie directs content development for the Above/Below campaign and is the lead author of the campaign’s webstory, The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp. She teaches in the School of Design at San Francisco State University. Josieiselin.com
Marianna Leuschel was the director of L Studio, a communications design agency, for 20 years and currently runs New Agency to develop communication strategies and design campaigns for a range of clients in ocean and land stewardship. She is particularly skilled at envisioning what hasn’t been done and working with multiple stakeholders to create stories about our human relationship to the natural world, and our responsibility as stewards. Marianna now leads the campaign for Above/Below, working with creative teams to generate new ideas for communication outreach and engagement strategies and implementation of campaign initiatives. newagencyca.com
We believe in the power of collaboration. Please join us.
Josie Iselin
Co-Director
josieiselin@lovingblind.com
415.577.6545
@josieiselin
Marianna Leuschel
Co-Director
marianna@newagencyca.com
415.515.4519
Advisors and Collaborators
Homepage and Character Illustrations by
Ellen Litwiller
artist, muralist and scientific illustrator
All photographers are credited adjacent to their work
General Scientific Advisors
Tristin A. McHugh, The Nature Conservancy
Karina J. Nielsen, Oregon State University
Regional Partners
Central California:
Mark Carr, Moss Landing Marine Labs
Josh Smith, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Northern California:
Nina Hapner, Kashia Band of Pomo Indians
Tristin A. McHugh, The Nature Conservancy
Oregon Coast:
Tom Calvenese, Oregon Kelp Alliance
Peter Hatch, Elakha Alliance
Duncan Berry, Cascade Head Biosphere Reserve
Puget Sound/NW Straits:
Tom Mumford, UW/Friday Harbor Labs
Jodie Toft, Puget Sound Restoration Fund
Dana Oster, Northwest Straits Commission
Washington Coast:
Cathy Pfister, University of Chicago
Tom Mumford, UW/Friday Harbor Labs
British Columbia:
Chris Neufeld, Kelp Rescue (former)
Patrick Martone, University of British Columbia
Maycira Costa/Lauren Man, University of Victoria
Southeast Alaska:
Matt Kern, Barnacle Foods
Jordan Hollarsmith, NOAA Fisheries
Southwest Alaska:
Melissa Good, Alaska Sea Grant
Brenda Konar, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Patrick Saltonstall, Alutiiq Museum
Editorial Advisors
Sarah Allen, National Park Service, Retired Biologist
Rosa Laucci, Tolowa Dee-ni’ Scientific Advisor/Tribal editor
Kathy Ann Miller, UC Berkeley
Creative Team
Civiane Chung, diagrams & digital production
Alexandra Hammond, branding & communications design
Chad Upham, web design & development
Maps
Kenan Chan, kelp restoration sites
Sea & Shore Solutions, regional maps
Videographers
Natasha Benjamin
Sashwa Burrous
Justin Lewis
How We Built This
Josie first envisioned and conceptualized a book about bull kelp in 2020, outlining the basic structure we have developed for navigating this webstory. Marianna’s partnership with Josie brought her expertise in design implementation, project management, and editorial direction to the project as well as the fabulous creative team of Civiane Chung, Alexandra Hammond, and Chad Upham as designer and web developer. Josie is responsible for all of the text written on this website and the curation of the imagery, but in essence it has been a years-long collaboration with the bull kelp community on this western edge of North America. The character and regional stories—the varied "dramas" playing out in the bull kelp forest—are built from interviews and conversations with the network of marine scientists Josie has come to admire so much, from undergrads and PhDs to emeritus elders, sharing their expertise. There are also countless scientific papers and reports read, conferences attended, and presentations watched. Many, many thanks to everyone who has given so generously of their time and insights. Also, thanks from our deepest heart to the amazing group of photographers that are dedicated to donning gear and going into the kelp forest with large equipment to capture the magic and majesty, as well as the degradation, of the ocean forests that we on shore do not get to see. Your work throughout the website makes the stories come alive. Photographers are credited with each image and above is a list of those we have relied on most heavily to make sure each region and character is characterized as it should be. We could not have accomplished this ambitious undertaking without our funders. A heartfelt thanks to those that took a leap of faith on this webstory!
But this is just the beginning. We plan to publish future versions of this website incorporating changes and added features based on the feedback we receive. We hope that The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp webstory becomes a hub for kelp-centric, extending webs of knowledge that continue to grow as we learn from the kelp we revere. The regional resources provided are intended to unlock links and portals to more detailed bull kelp worlds from Monterey, California in the south to the Aleutian Islands in the northwest! We look forward to your feedback so we can make The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp all it should be. Our thanks to you all.
