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The Susan E Ford Endowment Memorial Fund
Paul Coyne is a PhD Candidate in Oceanography studying shellfish genetics under Professor Ximing Guo. Paul has devoted most of his research efforts to exploring the genetics and ploidy of bivalves. Paul says that receiving support through the Susan E. Ford Memorial Fund will allow him “to better characterize the underlying biomechanics of sterility and growth in the various ploidy states of shellfish”.

Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory Student Support Fund
Four students will receive support from the Student Support Fund to present their research at national or international conferences:
Hails Tanaka is PhD Candidate in Oceanography under Professor Daphne Munroe and has been studying juvenile surfclam recruitment patterns in New Jersey. Hails will use the funding to present his research at the 2026 Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow, Scotland during February 2026.
Henry Sun is a former Intern in Dr. Guo’s lab and is now in the PhD program at Duke. Henry says he has “had the great privilege to continue working and collaborating with the Haskin lab even after I started my PhD at Duke. This award makes possible my attendance at the [2026] NSA meeting [in Portland, OR] to report our progress regarding genomic selection for dermo resistance in oysters using AI-based approaches, and the meeting will provide invaluable feedback and new connections to inform my future research.”
Molly Honecker is a former RIOS intern and current seasonal worker at the Haskin Lab from Duke University. She has been working on verifying a PCR assay to distinguish subspecies and hybrids of the Atlantic surfclam with Professors Guo and Munroe. She also plans to use this funding to attend the annual meeting of the National Shellfisheries Association in Portland, Oregon in March where she will present this project publicly for the first time.
Alex Ambrose is a PhD candidate in Oceanography getting ready to defend her dissertation under Professor Munroe. Alex will use the funds to support her attendance at the 2026 National Marine Educators Association meeting in Cambridge, MD, where she will present a portion of her research in a talk titled “Developing Educational Tools Using Real Research Data: Investing Ecosystems”. This work examines student responses and interest in an educational exercise that was developed using her research data. Alex notes that “This meeting brings together marine educators, scientists, and students, making it a valuable opportunity to share my findings and network with peers”.

Congrats to you all and we wish you the best of luck in your research and presentations!

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A study led by marine scientist Daphne Munroe has shown that Atlantic surfclams can be successfully farmed in the open ocean.

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Big congratulations to our graduate students and undergraduate interns who were awarded outstanding presentation awards at the MidAtlantic Chapter meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Dewey Beach, DE November 19-21, 2025. Best student talk awards went to Samantha Alaimo (3rd place) and Danielle Dyson (1st place, and best student poster awards went to former RIOS inters Fiona Farrell (runner up) and Maya Lopez (1st place). In total, Rutgers graduate and undergraduate students made 9 oral presentations and 6 poster presentations at this day-and-a-half long meeting. Well done students!!

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New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium and Rutgers University have partnered up with numerous shellfish farms throughout the Jersey Shore for the Apprenticeship In Shellfish Aquaculture Program (ASAP).

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The Atlantic surf clam, an economically valuable species that is the main ingredient in clam chowder and fried clam strips, has returned to Virginia waters in a big way, reversing a die-off that started more than two decades ago.