2024-2025 Funded Projects
Research is a core part of New Hampshire Sea Grant’s mission to promote responsible stewardship of New Hampshire’s ocean, coastal, and estuarine resources.
For over thirty years, New Hampshire Sea Grant has funded innovative, impactful, and engaged research in two year cycles, providing partner institutions and researchers with resources and connections to create meaningful scientific progress in the Granite State.
In 2024, we’re launching a new cohort of researchers whose projects will leverage innovative technology, advance scientific techniques, and improve our understanding of key ecosystems and species. The funded research projects, which focus on aquaculture and fisheries science, environmental contaminants, and coastal resilience will forge a strong path forward in the midst of local and regional environmental change to help New Hampshire's communities, economies, and ecosystems.
Toward a bird-friendly marine economy: Integrating seabird data into marine development planning
The rapidly expanding marine economy in New Hampshire may pose challenges for environmental conservation in the Gulf of Maine, particularly in regards to endangered and threatened seabirds, such as roseate terns (Sterna dougallii). Very little is known about where seabirds like terns spend their time in the Gulf of Maine, which is information that would be key to avoiding and minimizing conflict with industries, such as aquaculture and energy. To fill these key knowledge gaps, Elizabeth Craig and her team are using spatial modeling to build on prior NH Sea Grant funded research, uncovering the movements of both common and roseate terns. The results and data will be made available to both industry and state and federal regulators to help inform thoughtful decision-making throughout the region for both conservation and development.
Project Team:
Elizabeth Craig (Lead) – Shoals Marine Laboratory
Nathan Furey – University of New Hampshire
Donald Lyons – National Audubon Society and Oregon State University
Biotoxin accumulation in a changing coastal ocean: Determining how feeding behavior and food selection in commercially important bivalves is altered by warming and acidification
As New Hampshire’s shellfish industry continues to grow, understanding how ocean warming and acidification may impact shellfish safety and sustainability is increasingly important. Shellfish provide vital ecosystem services, such as improving water quality, but they can also accumulate harmful toxins when feeding on certain algae. These toxins, including those that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, can pose serious health risks to humans and lead to temporary harvesting closures that impact the economy. Brittany Jellison, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at UNH, is investigating how ocean warming and acidification—two major stressors in the Gulf of Maine—affect the feeding behavior, food selectivity, and toxin accumulation in three commercially important bivalve species: oysters, mussels, and scallops. By exploring how these changes may influence the potential for toxin buildup, the project will help inform safe harvesting practices and shellfish management strategies in a changing Gulf of Maine. In addition to the scientific research, the project includes an educational outreach component that introduces K–5 students, particularly those in inland areas of New Hampshire, to the importance of shellfish and phytoplankton through hands-on marine science activities.
Project Team:
Brittany Jellison (Lead) – University of New Hampshire
Elizabeth Harvey – University of New Hampshire
Understanding differential climatic and exploitative impacts on two Atlantic cod stocks in the western Gulf of Maine
Recent updates to the Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) management strategy reflect the complex structure of our local cod populations, breaking the U.S. cod stocks into four management units from the prior two. While this captures new complexity, this plan does not separate the distinct spawning populations in the Western Gulf of Maine, which spawn separately in two different seasons – winter and spring. The spring population has been observed to be in decline, and further management without differentiating these two populations could potentially lead to overharvest or inaccurate assessment of the weaker spring stock. Adrienne Kovach and her research team will partner with recreational fishers to collect cod samples, which are assigned to winter and spring spawning source populations using a genetic stock discrimination tool and a gene expression study. Together, this project will reveal the stock composition of the fishery, help inform future sustainable management of Atlantic Cod, and engage with the regional fishing community throughout the process.
Project Team:
Adrienne Kovach (Lead) – University of New Hampshire
Linas Kenter – NH Sea Grant & University of New Hampshire
Evaluating the northern range expansion of blue crab in New Hampshire through community engagement, baseline monitoring, and trophic interactions
As ocean temperatures in the Gulf of Maine warm, several crab species are expanding their ranges into the Gulf of Maine and its estuaries, including New Hampshire's Great Bay Estuary. Species like the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus)—once rare north of Cape Cod—are now increasingly found in New Hampshire waters as overwintering temperatures become less of a limiting factor. This range expansion of blue crabs can result in potential impacts to vital coastal habitats, as well as to economically important species like lobster and oysters. Understanding the distribution and ecological impact of blue crabs is essential to protect the ecosystem services estuaries provide and to anticipate potential challenges for fisheries and aquaculture. This project led by Christopher Peter at the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve will investigate current and emerging crab communities in New Hampshire’s Great Bay ecosystem, with a focus on blue crabs. Researchers will implement a monitoring program that incorporates local observations and scientific sampling, assess the feeding habits of blue crabs through stable isotope and DNA analysis, and evaluate potential impacts on natural oyster beds and aquaculture operations. The project will also bring together stakeholders from across New Hampshire and Maine to share knowledge and coordinate efforts through research, education, and outreach, ultimately supporting informed management of this changing coastal ecosystem.
Project Team:
Christopher Peter (Lead) – Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
Alison Watts – University of New Hampshire
Jason Goldstein – Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve
Gabriela Bradt – NH Sea Grant & UNH Extension
Jessica Batchelder – Manomet
Assessing and mitigating risks associated with small oyster importation
The bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the leading cause of seafood-borne illness worldwide but has only been a concern in the Northeast U.S. in the last decade since a particularly virulent strain ST36, native to the Pacific, was introduced. ST36 has never been detected in New Hampshire and regulators would like to keep it that way, so they prohibit importation of oyster seed from areas with known ST36 outbreaks. This prevents possible introduction, but also limits where NH oyster growers can source their seed. This research builds on prior NH Sea Grant funded work, which showed that small seed produced in controlled conditions in hatcheries can have limited Vibrio risk, but the risk of importing larger seed produced in upwellers in estuaries remain unexplored. This research will continue to explore risk of Vibrio introduction through this larger seed and seeks to understand how the microbiome of oysters could both increase vulnerability to Vibrio and provide opportunities for pathogen reduction. The research will also improve assays used to detect Vibrio so that they can discriminate between the problematic ST36 and other harmless strains. This will help provide critical missing data to inform oyster aquaculture policy and help support growers seeking safe seed.
Project Team:
Cheryl Whistler (Lead) – University of New Hampshire
Demographic representation in New Hampshire's seafood economy
Understanding who participates in New Hampshire’s growing seafood workforce is key to building a stronger seafood economy. Currently, there is little detailed information about the workers involved, including their demographics, as well as potential barriers and opportunities in the labor force. This research will take a deep dive into the seafood production sector, compiling existing data and conducting surveys to build a more accurate picture of the people behind the industry. Using New Hampshire seafood as a case study, Easton White and his team at the University of New Hampshire will identify gaps in workforce participation and highlight opportunities to grow and strengthen the seafood industry. Findings will be shared through outreach seminars, a technical report, and an online data tool to inform future policy and business decisions. The project will support several early-career researchers from different disciplines, a Ph.D. Student, and a pair of undergraduate interns.
Collaborators:
Easton White (Lead) – University of New Hampshire
Gabriela Bradt – NH Sea Grant & UNH Extension
Sherman Bigornia – University of New Hampshire
Joshua Stoll – University of Maine
