Dal students and alumni make waves at global pitch competition

A team including mostly 鲍鱼tv students and alumni was on top of the world this week in Norway where they took top prize at an international pitch competition focused on carbon-dioxide removal solutions.听

The quintet are the founders of a new startup working to improve ocean-based water quality monitoring, and, more specifically, provide a solution for the removal of carbon dioxide from rivers and oceans.

The five-member team from Equlantic Aquatic Monitoring Inc. 鈥� three current Dal students, an alum, and a student from Acadia University 鈥� represented Canada and the United States in the Mission Innovation SMART CDR competition during the 2025 CLIMIT Summit in Larvik, Norway, earning one of three top prizes of US$10,000.

Teams from Saudi Arabia and Japan also earned top honours.

Members of the team include:

• Isaac Bahler, an undergraduate student in Earth Sciences and Physics
  
  
• Caliyena Brown (BSc鈥�24 Honours in Marine Biology and Sustainability), a current Dal MSc student
  
  
• Will Myrer, an undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering
  
  
• Cameron Richardson (BSc鈥�23 Honours Ocean Science), now attending the听University of Hawai鈥檌 at M膩noa for a Marine Geochemistry graduate program
  
  
• Rowan Norrad, an undergraduate Environmental Science student at Acadia University

The group made a seven-minute presentation to an audience of carbon-management leaders.

鈥淚t was an amazing experience,鈥� said Isaac via email from Norway. 鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely exciting to see an idea and the field you believe in getting the recognition that you鈥檝e always felt it deserved.鈥�

Rowan said delivering the pitch was both nerve-wracking and exciting.

鈥淚 was so happy to bring something we had all worked so hard on to so many people. All I could feel was pride during our presentation.鈥澨�

The team was selected last October as one of 24 semi-finalists in the competition, and in December, received word they were among six finalists chosen to make their pitches in Norway.听

鈥淚t was an honour to represent Dal and North America,鈥� says Caliyena, citing the team鈥檚 multidisciplinary nature and complementary skillsets as key to its success.听

Creating solutions for carbon dioxide removal

The co-founders of Equlantic 鈥� the startup鈥檚 name is a portmanteau of 鈥楢tlantic鈥� and 鈥楨quator,鈥� representing the team member鈥檚 locations 鈥� centred their pitch on discussing a new way to improve monitoring of carbon dioxide removal in marine environments. It builds off previous work done by researchers Robert Byrne and Qipei Shangguan.

Dr. Shannon Sterling, an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and founder of the carbon dioxide-removal startup CarbonRun, was a featured speaker at the summit and supported the team during the ideation phase.听

Equlantic feels optimistic about the market potential for the project.

"I'm really excited that our project is getting recognition in an emerging industry," said Cameron, "and I'm hoping that we can contribute to the scientific and engineering framework in the marine carbon dioxide removal industry."听

Running on fumes

For Isaac and Will, members of the 鲍鱼tv Tigers varsity swimming team, making the trip overseas represented a race against time. Dal鈥檚 swim teams were in Saint John, N.B. on Sunday, Feb. 23 for the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championships, where both the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 teams won their respective titles. After returning to Halifax early Monday morning, the two boarded a flight to Newark, where they finalized their presentation during a six-hour layover before the eight-hour flight to Norway.听

After landing in Oslo on Tuesday, a two-hour car ride brought them to the venue with less than three hours to spare before their presentation.

An ill-timed travel delay could have cost them the opportunity to present, but fortunately the two Tigers made the most of their trip.

鈥淚t was inspiring to see so many incredibly bright minds that are passionate about this industry,鈥� says Will. 鈥淚n a time when the world is facing an unprecedented and daunting climate crisis, it鈥檚 comforting to know that people like those at CLIMIT are out there working to make a difference.鈥澨�

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