![]() However, higher rainfall and flooding in early 2013 caused lower salinity at all sites and only unoiled sites experienced recruitment.” She hypothesized that simultaneous stressors such as low salinity and lingering oil might be influencing recruitment. “In 2012, there was no detectable recruitment difference between the oiled and unoiled sites, suggesting that oil presence had little effect. Unexpected results led Maria to consider other factors that might affect oyster recruitment. To monitor settlement success, she deploys cement tiles at oiled and unoiled sites in Barataria Bay, retrieves them monthly and records the number of settled spat. Maria explains, “If they’re not settling and growing, then that’s not good for us or the oyster reefs.” Once larvae settle on a hard surface, they stay there permanently and are known as “spat” until adulthood. Maria’s research is helping to find answers.Ĭhanges in recruitment, which describes the number of young oysters that settle in an area, may indicate if oil deters larvae from their usual sites, causing a decline in population density. After the oil spill, she had many of the same questions as locals about impacts on oyster reproduction and growth and on marine life living in oyster reefs. While oysters are generally tolerant, Maria explains that oil could compromise their long-term health and sustainability and decrease reef functions. They support a large industry and provide marine habitat, filter water and stabilize shorelines. Oysters are important to Louisiana’s economy and environment. Maria Vozzo traveled each of the four Barataria Bay study sites – Hackberry Bay, Bay Jimmy, Grand Isle, and Grand Terre – during each field day. “But now, here I am in Louisiana a few years later working on the project I became so interested in two years ago.” “I tried so hard to find opportunities down here, and it didn’t work out,” recalls Maria. Brown and his team had just applied for the CWC grant, and he needed a student. Ken Brown after a friend recommended looking into LSU. When Maria began exploring graduate schools, she found her way back to oil spill research. After graduating from the University of North Carolina (UNC) – Chapel Hill, she assisted a large oyster restoration project at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences, sparking her interest in oyster research. She searched for ways to get involved, even as a volunteer, but found nothing. When the Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred, Maria knew that the impacts could be huge. As a child, she attended science-oriented camps as a way to get outside and then moved on to field ecology courses in college. The great outdoors sparked Maria’s interest in science. Maria is a master’s student in Biological Sciences at Louisiana State University (LSU) and a GoMRI Scholar with Coastal Waters Consortium (CWC). Maria’s creative adaptation of commercial oyster equipment for her research may also improve them for fisherman’s use. Her work has a wide scope, from the oyster’s environmental conditions to their cellular responses. ![]() Maria Vozzo’s strong interest in Deepwater Horizon research led her from North Carolina to Louisiana to study the oil’s effects on local oysters. Two weeks later, Maria counted the spat that had grown on the tiles and placed the tiles in predator exclusion cages in the field. ![]() Here, she filters out smaller, younger larvae and collects larger ones ready to settle into spat. ![]() Maria Vozzo grades oyster larvae at the LA Sea Grant oyster hatchery. ![]()
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