The Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies

I spent the summer working with Craig Norrie on his research on farmed Pacific oysters in the Puget Sound region. Oyster farmers have been experiencing large losses in product and profits in recent summers. Both aquatic fisheries scientists and marine farmers are interested in understanding the drivers behind these mortality events. In my research, I focused on the survival and respiration rates of diploid, induced tripod, and mated tripod oyster populations that were raised on four separate farms, two of which were at intertidal sites and two at subtidal sites. During our field days we measured oyster growth and mortality, gathered physiology samples to be examined further in the lab, and collected environmental data from various scientific instruments. Back at the lab, we performed respirometry tests to better understand how the oysters raised under different site conditions were consuming oxygen. One part of my work that was particularly exciting was learning how to use code to preprocess data, run statistics, and create graphs to visualize trends. I am extremely grateful for the special opportunity I had this summer to work under the expertise of Dr. Craig Norrie, to attend captivating presentations from CICOES affiliates, to work with the young scientists at Adventure Camp, and to learn alongside likeminded peers from institutions around the US.

Project Introduction

Research Poster