New Net Could Help Fishermen Reeling Over Sturgeon Listing
Waterman George Trice has been collaborating with scientists for eight years to collect data on Atlantic sturgeon.
Research
Virginia Sea Grant offers funding opportunities for researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students.
Before applying for any Virginia Sea Grant funding, make sure your project fits within the goals of our 2010-2014 Strategic Plan.
- Research Funding Opportunities
- Fellowships & Internships
- Access eSeaGrant (eSG) electronic submission and review system and other resources for those submitting full proposals to our Coastal and Marine Science RFP
Annual Research Portfolios
Featured Research Stories
Trawling for a Better Way to Assess Fish Health
On a warm morning last August, Ryan Schloesser and his labmate, student Lauren Nys, trawled off Oyster, VA. After a summer filled with collecting fish, they worked with experienced ease, throwing around jokes as smoothly as they tossed their nets behind the boat. What they pull up in their nets should help fisheries managers better predict the size of fish populations.
VIDEO: Economic Values of Traits in Salmon
Peter Kube is Quantitative Geneticist at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Hobart, Australia. Kube’s research in selective breeding of salmon, abalone, and Pacific oysters has lead to important tools for industry, including a way to calculate a breeding value for desired trait combinations. Kube is partnering with VIMS ABC researchers Anu Frank-Lawale and [...]
Leading Learning: From the Classroom to Virginia Beach
A century from now, 18-30% of Virginia Beach’s current land area could be underwater, according to a number of studies of projected sea level rise. On a shorter timescale, many residents are already seeing increased flooding, erosion, and storm damage. These impending changes led to a partnership between a team of students and faculty from the University of Virginia and the City of Virginia Beach, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, and the nonprofit, Wetlands Watch, for a series of projects aimed at helping the city respond and adapt to sea level rise.
Light Beneath the Surface: Requirements for Seagrass Growth
Old Dominion University professor Dick Zimmerman and his lab are developing a new model to predict where seagrass can grow in the Bay. This article features the work of communications intern Kate Schimel and photography intern Carly Rose.
Virginia Sea Grant Announces New Research Projects
The VASG research portfolio includes more than $1M in funding for coastal and marine research. Recently funded projects look at a variety of issues important to Virginia’s coasts, including studies on improving shellfish aquaculture, investigating effects of climate change, and understanding the impacts of nutrient loading on the Chesapeake Bay. Read more about the current [...]
Visualizing Local Impacts of Sea Level Rise for Informed Decision Making
Proposed policy responses to help communities adapt to sea level rise are often complex and difficult for the public to understand, which creates a serious barrier to informed decision making. An interdisciplinary team led by researchers at George Mason University will create a web-based tool that allows citizens to view the projected impacts of sea [...]
Focus on Protecting Shores and Property from Sea Level Rise
A research team led by the University of Virginia’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation will conduct a series of focus groups on adaptation to sea level rise in Virginia Beach, the Middle Peninsula, and the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The focus groups will bring together shoreline property owners with local planners and decision makers to engage [...]
Selecting Stronger Oyster Larvae Without Weakening Adults
Oyster aquaculture production in Virginia has increased tenfold in the past four years due, for the most part, to the development and dissemination of disease-tolerant oyster stocks. Anu Frank-Lawale of VIMS is examining whether larval growth traits and survival can be improved without compromising important traits in adult oysters, such as disease tolerance, growth rate, [...]
Improving Treatment to Reduce Oyster Disease
In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced a regulatory change that would require treatment of all oysters harvested in the Gulf of Mexico for raw consumption for the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus. VIMS researchers Howard Kator and Kimberly Reece worked with oyster growers Thomas Gallivan, A.J. Erskine, and Tommy Leggett to identify whether a [...]
VIDEO: Burreson’s Contributions to Science, Policy Recognized with 2011 Mathias Medal
On a mid-October evening, Gene Burreson, who colleagues consider “one of maybe two of the most important figures in the field” of fish and shellfish pathology, stood before a room of resource managers, industry members, scientists, and family and humbly stated, “Although this award is only given to one person, science is not done alone. I’ve been lucky that I’ve always hired good people to work with me.”
Are Living Shorelines Good for Fish?
Living shorelines use grasses instead of rocks to control coastal erosion, but are they big enough to provide habitat for salt marsh fishes as well? Jessica Thompson of Christopher Newport University will work with a team of four undergraduate researchers to measure the effects of living shorelines on populations of mummichog, a small fish that [...]
Taking Spadefish from ‘New Species’ to ‘Aquaculture Species’
Summer Communications Intern Kate Schimel reports on research into the spawning and food needs of the Atlantic spadefish. Studies like these are the first step towards developing a new species for aquaculture.
Understanding Chemistry and Clam Aquaculture
Virginia’s hard clam industry produces between $20 and $30 million-worth of clams annually. Iris Anderson, Mark Brush, and Mark Luckenbach of VIMS will expand upon their 2010 preliminary study of ecosystem responses to clam aquaculture and calibrate their model of how nutrient availability and transformations affect ecosystem health and clam aquaculture sustainability. The model will [...]
Playing Through Decisions that Affect the Bay
The UVA Bay Game is a large-scale simulation that allows players to take the perspectives of watermen, farmers, ranchers, citizens, local governments, and other stakeholders and watch as their decisions affect water quality in a virtual Chesapeake Bay. During 2011’s Earth Day, David Smith (UVA), with financial support from Virginia Sea Grant, coordinated seven universities [...]
Understanding How Change Affects Delmarva’s Coastal Lagoons
Delmarva’s shallow coastal lagoons are important for seagrass, fish, and human recreation, but little is known about how they will fare in a future characterized by increased nitrogen inputs. A group of regional research partners are joining forces to develop new models that will help resource managers quantify how land-use changes will alter nitrogen inputs [...]
Verifying a Promising New Oyster Treatment Method
Current treatments to reduce the occurrence of the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus in oysters destined for the half-shell market include expensive radiation and heating processes, which may compromise the quality of the oyster meat. After positive results from a small preliminary study, VIMS Researchers Howard Kator, Kimberly Reece, and Corinne Audemard are conducting a larger follow-up [...]
Strengthening Oysters and the ‘Bottom Line’
When geneticists began breeding oysters in hatcheries more than 10 years ago, the goal was simple: cultivate oysters that could resist diseases that were devastating wild populations. Today, oyster growers may need more from their oysters to remain competitive. VIMS researchers Anu Frank-Lawale and Stan Allen are partnering with Peter Kube from Commonwealth Scientific and [...]
VASG Announces 2011 Mathias Medal Recipient
Virginia Sea Grant is pleased to announce that Eugene Burreson, VIMS Professor Emeritus, will become the latest recipient of the prestigious Mathias Medal. The Mathias Medal is presented roughly every four-to-six years to a retired scientist who has made significant contributions to science and policy in the Chesapeake Bay.
Training Emergency Managers to Forecast Floods
Flooding along Virginia’s coasts is just a fact of life, especially during hurricanes and Nor’easters. To monitor to flooding conditions, emergency managers along coastal Virginia have been turning to TideWatch, a water level monitoring system produced by Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) researchers. Recently, the VIMS researchers behind TideWatch released and, with the help of Virginia Sea Grant, trained emergency managers in a new experimental flood-forecasting system.
