NOAA scientist to discuss shellfish feeding, filtration at DMC

Darien Mizuta will discuss how shellfish filtration is affected by environmental factors — including temperature and food quality and quantity — at 6 p.m. June 12 in the library at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole.

Mizuta is a postdoctoral research associate at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Laboratory in Milford, Connecticut. Her talk is titled “In situ feeding performance for shellfish culture.”

Understanding filtration and feeding performance of shellfish is important to wild and cultured populations. Mizuta uses oceanographic data to assist with selection of sites for offshore mussel aquaculture.

Mizuta will be joined by others from the lab — including director Gary Wikfors, Mark Dixon, Shannon Meseck and Skylar Bayer, who earned her Ph.D. at the University of Maine. Seabom Sohn of the East Sea Fisheries Research Institute in the Republic of Korea also will take part.

Area shellfish growers are invited to connect with lab members and hear about work at the NOAA Milford Laboratory, which has a history of collaborating with the shellfish industry in the Northeast.

There will be time for discussion and networking. For more information, a reasonable accommodation, or to RSVP (which is required because of limited seating), contact Dana Morse at 207.563.8186; dana.morse@maine.edu.