The Gouldsboro Shellfish Resilience Lab is very pleased to announce that John Ayarik will be joining us as our 2023 summer intern. John is a graduate student pursuing a degree in Environmental Science at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. He previously earned his bachelor’s degree in marine science from the University of Ghana in West Africa. His research interests encompass the study of biological, geographical, and physical environments and their interactions with living organisms. He is also interested in using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to promote environmental sustainability.
Before coming to study in the United States, John gained practical experience in aquaculture by managing a small fish farm that grew Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) in his home country of Ghana. He also worked for the research division of the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development in Ghana.
John’s strong academic and practical background in marine science and aquaculture will be very helpful to us as we work to understand and address the problems we encountered last summer. To address the growth rate problem, we are installing a new pump that will greatly increase the amount of water that we can circulate past the clams in the lab. To get a better understanding of why our nursery trays are hammered so badly by green crabs, while others have success using nursery trays, we will do regular plankton tows in the harbor to compare the density of green crab megalopa (the transitional stage between larvae and juvenile crabs) in Bunkers Harbor with other locations. We will also track crab megalopa density over the summer. Having John on board will add invaluable expertise to our largely volunteer crew. (Come join us!)
John starts next week, May 22. Stop by the lab to say hello.
