KelpConnect
A marketplace for the people rebuilding California's kelp forests
California's kelp forests are collapsing under climate-driven change offshore, and the harvesters, buyers and restoration organizations who could respond have no shared place to find each other.
A prototype marketplace connecting all three, anchored in current California kelp-restoration policy. Supplier and buyer listings are placeholders for now; the resources, data and statistics behind them are vetted and sourced.
Dan built KelpConnect on the idea that restoring an ecosystem and restoring livelihoods should be the same act. Stakeholders are lined up to test it, including a marine science center running an urchin ranching lab inside a restoration zone.
Dan came into Studio skeptical of AI. KelpConnect now rests on a 29-page ground-truth file, every prompt, source and design decision structured so any future contributor, human or agent, can pick it up.
Read the full story →I learned how to argue with Claude, to force Claude to challenge my own assumptions, and to maintain control as the thought provider and to let Claude work as a facilitator and a thought partner.
— Dan, Alders
Want to build your own?
You join a live global cohort for eight weeks and ship working tools as you go. No engineering background required.
Apply to the next cohort →Cohort starts: October 26, 2026
Application Deadline: October 23, 2026