I collect scallops and sea cucumbers from across the Pacific coast of North America, and investigate whether they are different at the genetic level across their range. This means I’m in the lab pipetting and also on the computer coding. The goal is to inform the aquaculture industry on whether they are different enough to warrant rules about whether we can mix them during aquaculture practices, like collecting adults to make seed or selling seed to be planted in faraway places. 

For the other half of my research, I’m using computer simulations to understand how farming shellfish can affect the genetics of wild shellfish. In a nutshell, I’m simulating shellfish hatchery practices, such as breeding many offspring from relatively few parents, and simulating interbreeding between the farm and the wild. Because this can have negative consequences, I’m exploring how different shellfish growing methods could mitigate these impacts.