Bridging Land and Sea

The story behind the “Surf to Turf” report begins not in a lab, a boardroom, or even a classroom, but in the tidal marshes and kelp farms of New England. For co-authors Kelly McGlinchey (YSE ’23) and Violet Low-Beinart (YSE ’24), the project was born from a shared fascination with coastal ecosystems and a conviction that regenerative agriculture and restorative aquaculture could heal divided food systems.

Published in February 2024, Surf to Turf: Linking Regenerative Agriculture and Restorative Aquaculture in Coastal Foodscapes argued that integrating land and sea food systems could reduce agricultural runoff, capture carbon, and revive coastal economies, but its most powerful impact emerged off the page.

Seeds of Collaboration

McGlinchey arrived at the Yale School of the Environment (YSE) with a decade of food-systems consulting experience and an idea to explore connections between land and sea. "I took agriculture classes alongside coastal ecosystems courses," she recalls. A summer 2021 research project, through YSE’s Berkeley Conservation Scholarship, introduced her to seaweed farmers and coastal nonprofits like Yellow Farmhouse Education Center and Stonington Kelp Co.

When CBEY’s Regenerative Agriculture Initiative (now a credit-bearing class at YSE taught by CBEY’s Tagan Engel) put out a call for proposals that fall, McGlinchey saw a chance to expand her work. Her original co-author graduated mid-project, but CBEY helped recruit Low-Beinart, whose background in sustainable agriculture aligned perfectly. "Violet jumped into an idea-phase project and helped bring it into reality," says McGlinchey. "CBEY brought us together."

Cultivating the Report

CBEY’s support proved pivotal in turning McGlinchey’s questions about how to link regenerative agriculture practices with restorative aquaculture:

With funding support through the Regenerative Agriculture Initiative, CBEY supported McGlinchey's research trip to Ireland’s coast for three weeks, where she documented centuries-old practices of using seaweed as fertilizer and livestock feed, which proved to be a key case study in the final report.

With expert guidance from CBEY’s team, these researchers were able to turn their ideas into a comprehensive and visually impressive report. Tagan Engel advised on interview frameworks and narrative development, while Heather Fitzgerald steered project management and graphic design. "Having a professionally designed, living document thanks to CBEY's support gave our work legitimacy," McGlinchey notes.

From Page to Practice

Within months, the report became a tool for change. Jen Rothman, Executive Director of Connecticut’s Yellow Farmhouse Education Center (featured in the report’s case studies), cited it in a USDA Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) grant application. Partnering with Stonington Kelp Co., a local seaweed farm also interviewed for the report, Rothman secured funding from this grant to build shared processing and cold-storage infrastructure for kelp and land-based farms.

"This is an inspirational example of sea-to-soil partnerships in action, right here in Connecticut," says McGlinchey. "Yellow Farmhouse is creating space where land farmers and ocean farmers can collaborate and build more resilient food systems together."

Ripple Effects

The momentum continues. McGlinchey and Low-Beinart keynoted the 2024 Sea to Soil Summit, further amplifying their findings. 

For McGlinchey, the journey reflects CBEY’s unique role: "CBEY offers the resources, guidance, and support to turn academic curiosity into tangible solutions. This wasn’t just a report: it became a bridge between farmers, food systems leaders, and funders; a bridge between the land and the sea.”

Kelly McGlinchey now leads food-sustainability strategies at Quantis, partnering with global agribusinesses to scale regenerative practices.