The Greenwich Shellfish Commission and Bruce Museum announce their First Sunday Science event will take place Sunday, Oct 6 from 1:30pm to 4:00pm at Innis Arden Cottage. Learn about National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shellfish research projects in Greenwich waters.
For more than four years The Town of Greenwich Shellfish Commission has been cooperating with NOAA Fisheries Milford on Shellfish projects, both clams and oysters, in Greenwich waters including Greenwich Cove.
NOAA marine scientists, researchers and economists have worked to establish the relationship between a healthy shellfish (in this case Clams) population and their economic benefit to a municipality.
The final complete study paper on the Clam project is in its final stages of preparation.
During the last three months a NOAA team have launched a project with Oysters also in Greenwich waters and Greenwich Cove.
This project focuses on Greenwich as an ideal case study to explore research questions related to water quality benefits provided by shellfish aquaculture. Including measuring the capacity of Greenwich shellfish to remove excess nutrients, which are one of the major challenges to coastal water ‘health’ in the US.
Julie Rose, a Research Ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, based in Milford has been one of the driving forces supporting this research will discuss the above projects.
Her research is focused on shellfish aquaculture, and supports a variety of stakeholders in the aquaculture community, including regulators, industry members, policymakers, and extension agents. Julie has an undergraduate degree in Biology and English from LaSalle University, and a Ph.D. in Marine Environmental Biology from the University of Southern California. She was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation to conduct research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, then served as the Science Coordinator for the Long Island Sound Study for several years prior to joining the NOAA Milford Lab in 2011.
Stella Mar Oysters’ barge at Experience the Sound at Greenwich Point. June 23, 2019. Photo: Leslie Yager