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R/IS-22
RDTE Facility: Establishing a Moblile Test platform on the Chesapeake Bay as Part of the Marine Resource Center
Principal Investigator:
Mario N. TamburriStart/End Year:
2008 - 2011Institution:
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceTopic(s):
Strategic focus area:
Resilient ecosystem processes and responsesDescription:
The Maritime Environmental Resource Center (MERC) is a State of Maryland initiative that will be providing test facilities, information, and decision tools to address key environmental issues facing the international maritime industry. The primary focus is to evaluate the mechanical and biological efficacy and costs and logistical aspects of ballast water treatment systems and assess the economic impacts of ballast water regulations and management approaches. We are proposing to enter into a Cooperative Agreement with NOAA Ballast Water Management Demonstration Program to establish the physical MERC RDTE-Facility, a MARAD barge into a test platform. The work/Plan of this proposal will focus on the conversion of a MARAD barge into a test platform that will be able to evaluate system performance under the different physical and biological condition's found throughout the Chesapeake Bay.
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Featured Fellow
Leone Yisrael is a cephalopod-loving scuba diver, cook, and loves to try new activities. She conducts genetic analysis and fieldwork at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center through the Coastal Disease Ecology Lab.
Featured Research Project
Exploring the Use of Benthic Microbial Fuel Cells to Remove Sulfide While Harvesting Energy from Oyster Aquaculture Biodeposits
Oyster aquaculture is a rapidly growing industry in Maryland’s Chesapeake waters which stimulates economic activity and may provide a host of ecosystem benefits. A potential concern associated with the intensification of the oyster aquaculture is the local production and accumulation of oyster biodeposits, which can lead to a porewater sulfide accumulation and declining bioturbation, symptoms of declining ecosystem function. Sulfide is naturally removed from the seafloor by the interactions between bioturbating infauna and sulfide oxidizing bacteria.
