As promised, here is some background on my current project

Micah, from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), and Alex, a graduate student in UW’s Biology department, conducted an experiment looking at Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) in eelgrass beds in and around the Puget Sound. As eelgrass photosynthesizes, it takes up CO₂. Therefore, eelgrass could potentially buffer deleterious effects of ocean acidficiation.

To test this, they deployed a total of 300 juvenile C. gigas specimens at five different sites: Case Inlet, Fidalgo Bay, Port Gamble Bay, Skokomish River Delta and Willapa Bay. At each site, oysters were placed in mesh cages in a patch either with or without eelgrass. At the end of the exposure period (either June 2016 to July 2016, or July 2016 to August 2016), the remaining oysters were collected.

While Alex will look at lipid content in these oysters, my job is to look at proteomics. I will find out if protein expression differed by site, eelgrass presence or various other factors.

Check out our data repository here!