Sam Elsom

Founder, Sea Forest

2025 TAS Australian of the Year Nominee

Sam Elsom is a climate solutions innovator who’s commercialised a new way to reduce methane emissions. Methane is a significant contributor to global warming because it’s 28 times more harmful than carbon dioxide. 

Sam founded Sea Forest, one of the first start-ups to successfully turn asparagopsis, a native Australian red species of seaweed, into a livestock feed supplement.  

Sea Forest’s SeaFeed supplement contains bioactive compounds that stop methane production in the animal’s gut. Adding just 0.2 per cent of the supplement to livestock feed can reduce the methane emissions of cows and sheep by up to 90 per cent, while increasing productivity.    

Sea Forest was named as a finalist for the $1.9M Earthshot prize set up in 2020 by Prince William and nature documentarian Sir David Attenborough. 

By dramatically reducing methane emissions, Sam is strengthening the sustainability of livestock industries, slowing global warming and potentially changing the course of our planet’s future.