An unpaid UK researcher saved the Japanese seaweed industry (2017)

In the summer, the leafy green seaweed sent out spores that collected and grew as the pink sludge in shells. Thanks to Drew-Baker’s work, Segawa was able to invent the industrial process that lead to the stable, predictable production of nori, for which everyone with a taste for sushi should be grateful. To encourage the spores to grow into their single-celled stage, farmers import shells from oyster fisheries, string them on fishing line, and hang them in huge vats of water that reproduce the ideal environment for the pink sludge to grow.

Source: arstechnica.com