Andrew Goode
Education: B.S. – Marine Sciences – University of Maine
Advisor: Dr. Damian Brady
Email Address: andrew.goode@maine.edu
Phone:
Location: Aubert Hall
Website:
Research: My interests and research focuses on how oceanographic conditions and processes influence ecologically and economically important species in the Gulf of Maine. The two main species my research focuses on are the American lobster, Homarus americanus, and the Eastern/American oyster, Crassostrea virginica. Recruitment processes of lobster invariably affect the abundance of harvestable individuals, and understanding the oceanographic influence to benthic recruitment of juveniles is key in understanding population dynamics in a stochastic and changing ocean environment. In contrast, much of the oyster population dynamics are now largely influenced by nearshore aquaculture. With aquaculture being a multi-million dollar industry for coastal Maine per year it is key in understanding ideal locations for aquaculture sites and the upper population limit that those sites can reasonably sustain. Combining oceanographic modeling and oyster biology we can identify regions along Maine, and within certain bays/estuaries, that can sustain large oyster populations via aquaculture. Identification of these regions would inform oyster aquaculture site selection and positively influence the economy of coastal Maine.