About Above/Below

What’s being said about The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp:

“It is visually stunning and information-rich, just like a big, beautiful book!” –  Jessica Owens (NW Straits Commission)

“A truly one-of-a-kind; what a wonderful way to share the beauty and ecology of kelp forests.”  – Meg Chadsey (WA Sea Grant)

A Campaign for the Ocean Forests of the North Pacific Coast

Kelp forests cover a quarter of the world’s coastlines and are critical to sustaining the biodiversity of the oceans. But these ocean forests are disappearing fast due to a convergence of natural cycles and human impacts, including rising ocean temperatures. Throughout California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska, a robust community has coalesced to study, protect, reforest, and restore the resilience of the bull kelp forests, but the urgency of this issue calls for public support to grow these efforts. Above/Below has created the web-based book, The Mysterious World of Bull Kelp to address this need for public engagement. It provides holisitic storytelling as outreach material to the network of ecologists working to understand the kelp forest systems as well as extensive links to resources. We hope you will explore the site to find all it offers.

Above/Below is co-directed by Josie Iselin and Marianna Leuschel. We support a collective of artists, scientists, and ocean advocates collaborating to tell the story of bull kelp along the North Pacific Coast. Our mission is to celebrate the wonder of bull kelp and the biodiversity it supports and to promote ocean literacy by writing visually engaging seaweed stories. 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—to inspire curiosity about the bull kelp forest through art, science, food, and film; and to grow a connection with this extraordinary marine algae, inspiring new ways to care for, protect, and learn from the forests of the sea. We believe that by combining art and science through creative storytelling strategies, we can help educate a broad audience about the importance of kelp forests, inspire engagement in local community action, and foster a culture of ocean stewardship over the long term.

How I Built This 

Josie first envisioned and conceptualized a book about bull kelp in 2020, outlining the basic structure developed for navigating this webstory. Marianna’s partnership with Josie brought her expertise in design implementation, project management, and editorial direction as well as the fabulous team of Civ Chung and Chad Upham as designer implementer and web developer. Josie is responsible for all of the text written on the website, art direction, 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 grad and PhD students 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, my most heartfelt thanks go to the amazing group of photographers who are dedicated to donning gear and going into the kelp forest 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. We could not have accomplished this ambitious undertaking without our funders. My deepest thanks to those who took a leap of faith on this webstory!