From Olympic sailor to saving the ocean – Max's story
Max Holloway had his sights set on being an Olympic sailor. But his love of the sea ultimately steered him down a different path. Sailing opened his eyes to the science of weather and forecasting, drawing Max into a career working on a novel way to combat climate change.
A love of sailing at a young age led to a successful sailing career for Geography graduate (2011) and University Sports Scholar, Max. He progressed from regional, to national to international competition, taking 10th place at the World Championships and winning the Youth National Championships at 16. When Max gained a place on the Olympic development squad, his dream of being a full-time sailor became a reality. He spent two years competing around the globe and training hard.
While learning to master challenging seas and capricious storms, Max developed a passion for the ocean and meteorology. Success depended on his ability to predict the weather, to make the most of the changing conditions coming down the course and turn his knowledge into a tactical advantage. But this experience also highlighted the problems of our changing climate.
Max came to realise that the challenge of fighting climate change called to him more loudly than the promise of sporting glory. Ceding the stage to a new generation, Max took a role coaching Olympic sailors and used the proceeds to fund his research modelling climate change. He’s now using models to predict when ocean nutrients are most available to help grow algae, opening the door to an innovative way to sequester carbon and battle climate change.
Time for a change
When he decided to make the leap from full-time sportsman to climate scholar, Max embarked on a Geography degree at Portsmouth, confirming his passion for studying the ocean, weather, and forecasting. During his studies, he was part of the Olympic transitional squad. As a University Sports Scholar, Max was supported to attend competitions including the World Championships.
Having caught the research bug, Max completed his Master’s in Oceanography, followed by a PhD in climate and paleo-climate modelling at the British Antarctic Survey. This saw him work on developing models to help understand our changing climate.
Max began coaching to fund his postgraduate studies. He instructed Great British youth and junior sailing teams, and Olympic sailors from Singapore and South Korea.
After his PhD, Max continued his modelling research, including at the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban. Here, Max became a keen open water swimmer – despite the chilly water. And when he got the chance to combine sport and climate science again, Max jumped at chance.
UN patron of the oceans, Lewis Pugh, needed a winter training partner ahead of his Antarctic swim campaign. Max was a great fit and he and Lewis spent two weeks on the Isle of Lewis, swimming and running in freezing temperatures, as well as discussing the latest science on climate change in Antarctica. The partnership was such a success that two years later, the pair were back at it again. Travelling to Iceland, Max helped Lewis get acclimatised and fit for his Greenland swim campaign.
Fighting back
At the time when Max started working in climate science, the goal was to stop emitting carbon. But human behaviours haven’t sufficiently changed. Now, we’ve reached the point where excess carbon needs to be physically removed from the atmosphere to restore the damage that’s been done.
Meeting the challenge head on, Max now works as a physical oceanographer for Brilliant Planet, a carbon dioxide removal company. They’re using sunlight, wind, and ocean nutrients to sustainably grow algae in the coastal desert of Morocco.
This unusual sounding venture uses algae to absorb carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere. The algae is then buried, sequestering the carbon away for thousands of years.
This coastline is a reliable location for upwellings of the cold, nutrient-rich ocean water used to feed the algae. Max’s ocean forecasting model predicts these upwellings - when the surface water is brimming with nutrients. The nutrient-rich ocean water is then delivered to the ponds where it optimises algal growth.
Nutrient depleted water is then returned to the ocean. This may sound like “waste water” but actually it’s a carbon reduction double whammy that’s restoring the offshore environment.
Ocean water has been effectively absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere for all of human history. But as our carbon emissions have exponentially increased, the ocean has become more acidic, and with it, less able to absorb carbon.
Growing algae de-acidifies the water and so, when it goes back out into the ocean, it raises the water’s pH, making it more able to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It also benefits the ocean’s inhabitants as organisms find it easier to grow in less-acidic water. Max’s model tracks where this water goes and how it spreads in the coastal ocean.
With these two carbon dioxide absorption techniques running side by side, Brilliant Planet are planning to scale up the operation to vast areas. This will enable them to extract meaningful amounts of carbon from the atmosphere and combat climate change.
Huge amounts of water will then be cycled through the ponds and back out into the ocean - with Max’s model tracking the water on its journey. The system has great promise; removing carbon from the atmosphere and restoring the ocean’s ecosystem at the same time. Max’s work is on the front line of carbon removal in an industry that’s going to be hugely valuable. To all of us.