Warming to Oysters

Cait Cleaver’s research will help determine the viability of oyster restoration in Maine’s changing coastal environment

Maddy Lin ’25, an environmental policies and East Asian studies double major, carries bags of oysters to count, size, and record as part of the Basin Oyster Project in Phippsburg. A collaboration among individuals and organizations, including Colby, the project is working to build oyster reefs, which are designed to improve local ecosystems by enhancing water quality, creating habitats for shellfish regeneration, and erosion prevention and shoreline protection.
Share
By Bob KeyesPhotography by Ashley L. Conti
November 20, 2024

Cait Cleaver ’06, assistant professor of environmental studies, describes herself as an “interdisciplinary social-ecological systems researcher.”

That means she balances data-driven research with the human dimension in her work to help communities threatened by warming and rising waters associated with climate change.

“I am really interested in how our coastal communities, both the natural and human communities, are responding to climate change, and I am super focused on Maine,” said Cleaver, who lives in Brunswick and is married to a lobsterman.

As part of her scientific work at Colby, Cleaver is tackling projects that involve ecological research, social science, and the potential for policy outcomes related to the future of coastal restoration, aquaculture, and fisheries in Maine. With funding from the Maine Community Foundation, Cleaver is working with local oyster producers, the Nature Conservancy, the conservation nonprofits Midcoast Conservancy and Manomet, colleagues from Bowdoin College and the University of Maine, community members, and aquaculture startups to monitor two ongoing oyster restoration sites that are part of the Basin Oyster Project in Phippsburg’s Basin Preserve.

Over a period of several years, Cleaver and her students are exploring if Maine’s warming ocean waters will enhance oyster growth and production, as well as some of the social-ecological factors involved.

They are monitoring changes in environmental conditions, the health of the oysters, and whether oyster settlement is happening on those sites in Phippsburg. If so, they will probe whether those locations also support higher levels of marine biodiversity. At the same time, Cleaver is talking with local fishermen, shellfish harvesters, and other stakeholders about their perspectives, ideas, and concerns related to siting oyster restoration projects and the changing environment.

“We’re working to understand the bigger picture of our oyster reefs and the implications for everyone involved,” Cleaver said. “It’s quite possible that oyster reefs will be more prevalent in the coming years in the New Meadows, Sheepscot, and Damariscotta rivers based on whether or not the adult oysters are reproducing, if their larvae are settling, and if those settlers are surviving.”

Her research will help answer those questions.

Four people on a fishing boat, two of them dumping oysters into the ocean
Joe Jerome (center), owner and operator of North East Salt Water, watches the tilt of the boat as Cait Cleaver, assistant professor of environmental studies, and Jessie Batchelder ’17, fisheries project manager at conservation nonprofit Mamomet, disperse totes of oysters. Maddy Lin ’25, an environmental policies and East Asian studies double major, observes.
image from above of three women sorting oysters on a dock
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Cait Cleaver (right) works with others to count, size, and record oysters on the dock in Phippsburg.
close up for a woman carrying two bags of oysters
Jessie Batchelder ’17 carries bags of oysters.
Large dock on the coast of Maine with people working sorting and measuring oysters
Activity on the dock at the Maine Oyster Company in Phippsburg.

related

Highlights