The Sea Vegetable Experiment Begins

On March 11^th, Lynn Wilking assisted Dr. Megan Davis, Ikuko Fujisaki, and volunteer Obby Tapley to plant 3 types of sea vegetables in different types of substrate. Plants were set up at the aquaculture center at Harbor Branch, and were planted in sand, clay pebbles, or no substrate (water only). Their growth will be monitored over the next few weeks to see if substrate type influences growth rates. As you can probably guess, our lab is interested in the sediment aspect of this project. We are looking forward to seeing the results!

FCCHH Field Sampling Wrap-up

The Beckler lab got up before the sun to complete the field sampling for the Florida Center for Coastal and Human Health, and we have some beautiful sunrise photos to prove it! This was a collaborative effort with several other Harbor Branch faculty and staff, and we were happy to get out on the boat and collect sediment and surface water samples for the final dry season sampling event, which wrapped up on March 17^th. Samples were collected from the Indian River Lagoon, spanning from the Banana River in the north to Jensen Beach in the south. The goal of this project is to determine the impact harmful algal blooms, climate change, and human activities may have on the IRL, and how all these factors interact to influence human health and environmental concerns. Check back to find out the results of this study!