Shanjana Mahmud

Growing up in a coastal port city in Bangladesh, Shanjana was surrounded by water she couldn’t enjoy. The shorelines were too polluted and the waterways were inaccessible. She carried that disconnect as a kid when moving to New York City, where the 520 miles of coastline remains largely cut off from the communities that live alongside them. 

Experiencing the water eventually became a source of joy and healing for Shanjana. After a decade of researching and taking day trips to oyster and seaweed farms, Shanjana founded Seaweed City, a nonprofit that grows seaweed along New York City’s coastline to restore marine ecosystems and help clean the water. Seaweed City works with LaGuardia Community college, students, volunteers and companies like Con Edison to produce and educate around seaweed gardens in Newtown Creek, and a nursery and lab on Governors Island. Shanjana’s vision is an urban future where community seaweed farms are as common as community gardens and New Yorkers reclaim their relationship with the water’s edge.