US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy honoured Sea Forest CEO Sam Elsom and seven other outstanding Australians at the American Chamber of Commerce Alliance Awards in Sydney.
Hobart’s Sam Elsom took home the top prize at Australia’s American Chamber of Commerce annual Gala awards. The CEO of Sea Forest was awarded the Ambassador’s Award for his work tackling climate change by reducing livestock methane emissions.
The innovation Sea Forest is pioneering involves feeding asparagopsis – a red-hued seaweed native to Australia – to cattle.
“Sam Elsom is transforming sustainability and agriculture. His Sea Forest team have developed a groundbreaking feed additive solution that reduces livestock emissions by up to 90 per cent. Their solution will make a global impact,” says Ambassador Kennedy.
The solution that Sea Forest has developed is said to be a world first. The commercial quantities of asparagopsis growing in Tasmania can feed four-million heads of cattle, according to the company.
“A humbling experience to be honoured by Ambassador Kennedy tonight for Sea Forest’s innovation in developing an at-scale solution to methane emissions with global impact potential,” says Elsom. “None of this progress has come easy… ask any one of our team, but we work tirelessly together and support each other and somehow great progress is achieved.”
Earlier this month, Elsom’s efforts saw him named the 2025 Tasmanian of the Year.
It is also not the first time Elsom has been acknowledged on the world stage. Sea Forest was a finalist in Prince William’s Earthshot Prize in 2023. The company is a partner of the UK’s largest supermarket chain, Morrison’s, as well as the Grill’d restaurant chain here in Australia. Sea Forest solutions are also being used to develop a ‘climate-friendly’ milk product in Tasmania.
The work the company is doing aligns with the Global Methane Pledge announced at COP in 2021, which aims to reduce methane emissions by 30% within the next six years.
Seven other awards were also issued at the AmCham gala. The event is designed to “identify the pathfinders in the industries that will shape the future economic collaboration between Australia and the United States,” AmCham states.
Awards for AI, space, biotech, clean energy, the digital economy, quantum, and prosperity were also handed out.
CEO April Palmerlee noted the evening “recognises Australian-American achievements in the key industries that will lead to our shared prosperous future.”
“So important to celebrate the >100y relationship between Australia & the USA, and to remember that no matter what the politics may be, our relationship is based on people, values, business and an amazing shared history,” says AmCham Chairman Larry Marshall.
Award winners
Artificial Intelligence
Professor Simon Lucey the Director of the Australian Institute for Machine Learning at the University of Adelaide
Space
Professor Anna Moore, Director of the Institute for Space at the Australian National University
Biotechnology
David Hoey the President and Chief Executive Officer of Vaxxas
Clean Energy
Dr Paul Barrett the Chief Executive Officer of Hysata
Digital Economy
Dr Nishanth Krishnananthan and Dr Vijay Paul, co-founders and co-CEOs of Vantari VR
Quantum
Michael J. Biercuk, founder and CEO Q-CTRL
Prosperity Award
KPMG won the award for the report A Prosperous Future, “exploring the economic impact of increased collaboration between Australia and the United States in the fields that will shape our economies for the next fifty years.”
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