How do you turn seaweed into plastic? Ranah Chavoshi will tell you
Ben Simoni, executive director of the Youth Climate Corps, hiking in Alaska. Photo by Melissa Lavery
By Patricia Lane
Ranah Chavoshi is turning seaweed into safe plastic.
This 29-year-old Simon Fraser University master’s student in biological sciences won first place in the 2021 Greater Vancouver YMCA Youth Mean Business Pitch Competition for this concept and is the 2022 winner of her department’s teaching award. As a 2021 Radius Fellow, she participated in a program to develop solutions for local communities.
This piece is part of a series of profiles highlighting young people across the country who are addressing the climate crisis. These extraordinary humans give me hope. I write these stories to pay it forward.
Tell us about your project.
I am the founder of PhyCo, a startup working in partnership with Indigenous Nations to manufacture biodegradable, non-toxic and petroleum-free plastic packaging.