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Abstract Sea ice can profoundly influence photosynthetic organisms by altering subsurface irradiance, but it is susceptible to changes in the climate. The patterns and timing of sea ice cover can vary on a monthly to annual timescale in small sub‐regions of the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). During the latter part of the 20th century, sea ice coverage significantly decreased in the WAP, a trend that aligns with warming in this area. Macroalgal biochemical components are impacted by light availability, often showing a close relationship between photosynthesis and biochemical compositions. We used satellite imagery of annual sea ice duration and extent as well as water turbidity during ice‐free periods to identify 14 study sites that differed dramatically in sea ice coverage but were similar in terms of turbidity along the central WAP between 68° S and 64° S. The common macroalgal speciesDesmarestia menziesii,Himantothallus grandifolius,Sarcopeltis antarctica, andIridaeasp. were collected by scuba divers between 5 m and 35 m depth at each site where they occurred, for later biochemical analyses. Overall percentages of major biochemical components as well as carbon and nitrogen percentages and C:N were determined and correlated with four different sea ice indices. Surprisingly, most of the chemical components were not significantly correlated with sea ice cover. The few significant correlations varied between species and chemical components. This indicates that although patterns of sea ice coverage have major implications for macroalgal abundance, on a per‐biomass basis, sea ice coverage does not impact the nutritional contributions of macroalgae to food webs. 

Abstract The ecological, evolutionary, economic, and cultural importance of algae necessitates a continued integration of phycological research, education, outreach, and engagement. Here, we comment on several topics discussed during a networking workshop—Algae and the Environment—that brought together phycological researchers from a variety of institutions and career stages. We share some of our perspectives on the state of phycology by examining gaps in teaching and research. We identify action areas where we urge the phycological community to prepare itself to embrace the rapidly changing world. We emphasize the need for more trained taxonomists as well as integration with molecular techniques, which may be expensive and complicated but are important. An essential benefit of these integrative studies is the creation of high‐quality algal reference barcoding libraries augmented with morphological, physiological, and ecological data that are important for studies of systematics and crucial for the accuracy of the metabarcoding bioassessment. We highlight different teaching approaches for engaging undergraduate students in algal studies and the importance of algal field courses, forays, and professional phycological societies in supporting the algal training of students, professionals, and citizen scientists.