ATLAS: Using Sustainability Data to Prioritize Species for Alternative Seafood Development
Group Members: Leah Greiner, Emily Heckman, Nora Long, Julia Park
The objective of this capstone project is to update the ArcheType Library for Alternative Seafood (ATLAS) database. ATLAS was created by the Good Food Institute as part of the Sustainable Seafood Initiative. ATLAS ranks seafood archetypes by several metrics including market size, wild population numbers, and greenhouse gas emissions. The aim of this project is to update the sustainability metrics and rankings currently used in ATLAS. This database is being used to help the alternative seafood industry grow to its maximum potential as startups, investors, researchers, and other seafood industry stakeholders are using this database to determine which archetypes to target for alternative development. To ensure that the updated version of ATLAS is most useful to industry stakeholders, the first step of this project is to deliver a Stakeholder Engagement Report that will incorporate responses from stakeholder surveys and interviews to receive feedback on the current database. Then, MENV students will produce an Evaluation Report identifying strengths and weaknesses of the current ATLAS database and make recommendations for the updated version of ATLAS. In the report, the students will also include an improved definition of sustainability that will be generated from their literature review, feedback from the stakeholder engagement process and evaluation of available data sources. The final deliverables will consist of an updated version of the ATLAS database and User Guide, which will help users navigate the data. The MENV team will host a webinar to present their work and release the newest version of ATLAS. The webinar will be an informational session on the best ways to use the database and will align with the User Guide.