Linnea Sturdy (1991 – 2021)
Our brilliant student Linnea Sturdy (1991 – 2021) passed away unexpectedly during the Easter weekend, April 2021. Linnea was a student at the Graduate Program in Ocean Food Systems at University of New England, Maine, USA, and was selected to be the first AquaVitae trans-Atlantic exchange student due to her tremendous academic potential and engagement to support development of sustainable food systems using low trophic species. In the midst of the pandemic, Linnea crossed the Atlantic in the beginning of February to join IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute in Sweden and work on practical lab trials including the tunicate Ciona intestinalis, an emerging food and feed species. Despite initial setbacks in the project, she worked with diligence and enthusiasm, and soon overcame all obstacles.
As stated by the marine explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau “The Sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever”. This is especially true for Linnea who was bound to the sea as a member of a sea-faring family. Linnea was not only very committed and engaged in the marine environment, but was also a very bright, promising student. Through her motivation and intellectual capacity, she had the potential to support a sustainable future for the oceans that she loved. She wanted to save the world, everyone in it, and herself. In the end, she couldn’t. Her time with us was far too short and her absence has left a void that will be difficult to fill. The world will never be the same without you Linnea, but we will do our best to continue what you set out to achieve.
Åsa Strand (IVL) and Barry Antonio Costa-Pierce (UNE)
Linnea hard at work on her research project at IVL in Sweden.
