Oyster Reef Ecosystem Services Project Principal Investigators Meet, Collaborate

The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office’s Oyster Reef Ecosystem Services project—including NCBO field work, NCBO-funded research by academic institutions, and computer modeling—is exploring the ecosystem benefits that restored oyster reefs provide. Throughout the years in which institutions have received funding for their work, primarily in researching fish utilization of reefs and denitrification, ORES researchers have come together annually to provide updates on their field work and data analysis. This year’s meeting, led by NCBO’s David Bruce (speaking in photo), was held at the Potomac River Fisheries Commission in Colonial Beach, Virginia. The group heard updates on all projects and shared ideas for continued collaboration among all projects. While funding is drawing to a close, additional work remains. The group agreed that another collaborative meeting in roughly 18 months could focus on research results—and on how best to package up and communicate the multi-year, multi-project effort and knowledge. The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office produced short summaries of work conducted each year; the 2017 update is available at https://go.usa.gov/xQ8j8