Boston University Students use FlowCam to Analyze Oyster Habitats from Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island

Boston University Students use FlowCam to Analyze Oyster Habitats from Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island

Nick Ray (PhD Candidate) and Gretchen McCarthy (Senior) from the Boston University Marine Program (BUMP) came to visit our FlowCam lab in Scarborough this week. Nick Ray had used a FlowCam in 2016 in Dr. Robinson Fulweiler's lab when he was a recipient of our Student Equipment Grant. Gretchen has worked in this lab since she was a freshman. She's planning to begin graduate school next year and will focus her studies on fisheries and aquaculture.

Gretchen's senior thesis work investigates the interactions between oysters, nutrients, and phytoplankton community structure. Building upon Nick's initial research, Gretchen's paper is titled: Oysters, nutrient regeneration, and alternative phytoplankton community states. In this paper she explores the role oysters play in regulating nutrient availability in coastal ecosystems. By excreting nutrients and moving organic material (via biodeposits) to the benthos, oysters can alter the sediment nutrient regeneration rates.

Of particular interest is how these activities likely change the ratio of nitrogen to silica in coastal ecosystems. And, how the oyster diet (diatom-rich or dinoflagellate-rich) influences rates of nutrient regeneration. A diet rich in diatoms likely favors low nitrogen:silica, while one rich in dinoflagellates likely favors high nitrogen:silica.

Gretchen will be presenting her work at the National Shellfisheries Association Meeting in Baltimore this spring. Stay tuned to read her full research paper when it's published later this year. This work is funded in part by Rhode Island Sea Grant and the BU Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.

Post Topics

Related Posts

Group of people in FlowCam tshirts standing at exhibitor booth
Notes from the Field: The 2024 Ocean Sciences Meeting
The FlowCam team had an excellent time in New Orleans for ASLO’s Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM) last month! In case you missed it—or just want to …
Read Post
Conference poster hall full of people
Notes from the Field: ASLO Returns to Meeting in Person
Since COVID began over three years ago, many scientific conferences normally held in person were either canceled, postponed, or reorganized into …
Read Post
Need Supplies?

Find supplies and spare parts for your FlowCam instrument or ask for a quote. 

Order Now

Need Help?

Get technical support and application help. Request training or preventative maintenance.


Submit a Support Ticket

Need Information?

Check out our knowledge base including white papers, application notes, technical notes, and videos.

View Resources