publications

2026

1. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng.

   Comparative life cycle assessment of algal bioplastics and polylactic acid

   Meng-Yen Lin, Richard D Colwell, Ian R Campbell, and 2 more authors

   ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng., Jan 2026

   Abs DOI

   The massive scale of plastic production and persistent plastic waste have intensified global efforts to develop sustainable bioplastics. Algal bioplastics, produced directly from whole algal biomass, are inherently biodegradable and do not rely on agricultural feedstocks, positioning them as a versatile and accessible alternative to commercially dominant bioplastics such as polylactic acid (PLA). To guide their advancement, a comprehensive evaluation of environmental impacts, material performance, and end-of-life behavior is needed. Here, we conduct a life cycle assessment to quantify cradle-to-gate environmental impacts of lab-scale algal bioplastics made from sugar kelp across eight impact categories and benchmark them against lab-scale PLA. To support transparent optimization, we perform hotspot analyses with alternative processing and energy scenarios while investigating data variability and sensitivity to quantify uncertainty in early design. Algal bioplastics exhibit on average 47% lower environmental impacts than the lab-scale PLA baseline (33–75% across eight categories), with comparable stiffness, improved flame resistance, and 94–99% biodegradability in seawater after 120 days as quantified by biochemical oxygen demand. By providing transparent data and methods and an in-depth discussion of limitations and challenges, we establish a comprehensive foundation for algal bioplastic design, supporting future innovation and scale-up of this emerging sustainable material class.

2022

1. Berkeley Rev. Educ.

   What’s lost, what’s left, what’s next: Lessons learned from the lived experiences of teachers during the pandemic

   Christopher John Buttimer, Richard Colwell, Dan Coleman, and 3 more authors

   Berkeley Rev. Educ., Sep 2022

   Abs DOI

   To understand the experiences of educators during the 2020 extended school closures, we interviewed 40 teachers from across the country in public, charter, and private schools, at different grade levels, and in different subject areas. Teachers articulated three main concerns about emergency remote schooling: 1.) student motivation; 2.) professional loss and burnout; and 3.) exacerbated inequities. As the climate emergency makes school disruptions more common, school systems must learn from the tragic school closings under COVID-19 to prepare for an uncertain future. We propose five design considerations to build school systems with greater resilience for the long-term: center equity, focus on relationship-building, address student motivation, address staff motivation and burnout, and mitigate uncertainty.

2. Tech. Pedagog. Ed.

   Remote language revitalisation efforts during COVID-19

   Grahm Wiley-Camacho, Garron Hillaire, Christopher J Buttimer, and 1 more author

   Technol. Pedagog. Educ., May 2022

   Abs DOI

   As schools shift to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to support disenfranchised populations and keep issues of equity at the centre of our response. In this study, the authors focus on supporting one of the few urban-based Indigenous language schools in the United States because language revitalisation is critical for Native American communities. The authors explore the extent to which video conferencing and flipped classrooms support the development of a community of speakers. The study focuses on a single classroom of 16 students in first through third grade. The authors use a digital decolonisation framework focused on empowering local communities in conjunction with design-based research methodology to explore contextualised remote instruction solutions. They report on benefits for the development of a community of speakers from remote instruction that come with costs in reduced efficacy of language learning. Finally, they distil those results into preliminary design principles.