Aidan Lurgio
Aidan Lurgio is a first-year master’s student studying the baseline levels of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in oysters at three productive growing areas in Maine. Aidan currently works for the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) as Southern Maine’s shellfish inspector. She hopes to use this research to inform DMR’s Vibrio Control policy and provide this data to shellfish growers. Before Graduate school, Aidan was assisting with Wild Blueberry research under Lily Calderwood to determine agricultural practices that would enhance yield for this unique and important Maine industry. She worked in Amanda Klemmer’s lab where the goal was to determine if rockweed harvesting methods were affecting invertebrate diversity, studied abroad at the Cape Eleuthera Institute researching the macroalgae sargassum, and worked as a contractor for the DMR performing biotoxin monitoring. Aidan graduated from UMaine with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Ecology in 2021 and looks forward to performing research that will directly benefit public health and help inform the shellfish industry.