Education

B.Sc. McGill University, M.Sc. Memorial University of Newfoundland

Description

I manage the shellfish hatchery at the Marine Culture Laboratory at the Ira Darling Marine Center.  Our core project is the Oyster Breeding Program (OBP) which is cooperatively managed by Dr. Paul Rawson and the Shellfish Working Group -comprised of shellfish industry members in Maine.  The program's goal is to develop, through selective breeding, disease-resistant lines of oysters that grow well in the relatively (compared to Southern New England and the mid-Atlantic) colder waters of Maine. 

We also provide technical assistance for student and faculty projects needing specialized marine culture or quarantine systems and produce phytoplankton for a wide variety of research and education needs.

Research interests

Current projects include: a two-year "common garden trial" of oyster lines  (cross bred to try to incorporate resistance to multiple oyster diseases) produced at the hatchery in conjunction with Scott Lindell at MBL and oyster farmers in Maine and several other northeastern states, construction of a new greenhouse and continuous algal production system, and aquacultural research centered on European Oysters (Ostrea edulis) - a species introduced to Maine waters in the 1960's.

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