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SBU Researchers Test Ancient Fern as Carbon Offset Solution

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A Stony Brook University research team has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to investigate whether a fast-growing aquatic fern could offset carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. The project centers on Azolla, a plant also known as mosquito fern, water fern, and fairy moss that once triggered a global cooling event 50 million years ago. “This plant has already cooled the world once, so we think that we can harness it to do it again,” said Sharon Pochron, project lead and assistant professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. During the Eocene epoch, when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels reached approximately 3,000 parts per million, Azolla covered vast freshwater surfaces in the Arctic. The fern grew quickly by fixing its own nitrogen through a symbiotic relationship with cyanobacteria, enabling the plant to convert carbon dioxide into sugars and double its biomass every 2.5 days. As the plants died and sank to the ocean floor, they seques

A Stony Brook University research team has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to investigate whether a fast-growing aquatic fern could offset carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. The project centers on Azolla, a plant also known as mosquito fern, water fern, and fairy moss that once triggered a global cooling event 50 million years ago. “This plant has already cooled the world once, so we think that we can harness it to do it again,” said Sharon Pochron, project lead and assistant professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences. During the Eocene epoch

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