CMAST News

Mar 26, 2025

Graduate Students Monitor Newly Built and In-progress Oyster Sanctuaries in Pamlico Sound

NC State master’s student Rebecca Ruiz, Ph.D. student John Brooks, and master’s student Jess Izaguirre (pictured left to right), are working on a project to monitor newly built and in-progress oyster sanctuaries in Pamlico Sound. Ruiz’s portion of the work focuses on characterizing fish assemblages on the reefs using ARIS sonar data, which is complimented…

Mar 26, 2025

Semester at CMAST Student Works with Bonehenge Whale Center

Each spring, NC State offers a semester-long hands-on immersion learning experience for undergraduate students at the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST).  While each student takes a full load of courses, they also work with a mentor to conduct a research project.  This semester, CMAST is hosting twelve students, including sophomore, Cecilia Calub, who…

Mar 26, 2025

Drs. Chouljenko Collaborate on Sturgeon Research

Dr. Alex Chouljenko, NC State assistant professor and director of the Seafood Technology Program at the Center for Marine Sciences and technology (CMAST), recently collaborated with Dr. Vladimir Chouljenko, professor, Louisiana State University, to research and publish a study about Russian sturgeon genetics. The two presented a poster outlining their research at this month’s Aquaculture…

Mar 25, 2025

Rocco Earns Ph.D.

Congratulations to NC State PhD student, Alex Rocco, who has successfully defended his PhD research titled, “Innovative Modeling Approaches for Assessing and Predicting Life History and Spatiotemporal Dynamics of North Carolina’s Blue Crab Stock under Emerging Threats”.  Rocco conducted his research through the Department of Applied Ecology under Dr. Jie Cao. Before pursuing his doctoral…

Feb 13, 2025

Brooks Conducts Research at CMAST

Carteret County native and NC State University doctoral student, Johnna Brooks, is combining her interests in fish and math with research she’s conducting at the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST).  To learn more about Brooks’ research, read the original article by Heather Frantz HERE. 

Feb 13, 2025

CMAST Student Attends Conference

NC State Semester at CMAST student, Alden Mazo, spent last week enhancing her knowledge about sea turtle research at the Southeast Regional Sea Turtle Meeting in Hilton Head, SC, through the Caretta Research Project.  Mazo says, “It was an incredible [opportunity] to hear about all of the awesome sea turtle research that is being done…

Dec 4, 2024

Johnna Brooks and the Della John

Every year, the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum and Heritage Center on Harkers Island releases a collector’s ornament that celebrates Core Sound culture. This year’s numbered ornament features a painting of the fishing vessel Della John by Harkers Island native Johnna Brooks. Currently working on her doctorate in biomathematics at North Carolina State University where she…

Nov 26, 2024

Results of Whale Hearing Study Published

Dr. Craig Harms, professor of aquatic, wildlife and zoo animal medicine at NC State and director of the marine health program at CMAST, is one of two veterinarians on an international research team that has been testing minke whale hearing over the past few years.  The research findings have been released by Science, which show that…

Nov 20, 2024

NC State Students Learn about Living Shorelines

NC State students enrolled in a Nature-based Solutions course recently visited the Morehead City area, where they learned about the importance of living shorelines.  According to Dr. Stacy Zhang, who is teaching the course, “Nature-based solutions are actions that incorporate natural features and processes to protect, conserve, restore, sustainably use, and manage natural or modified…

Nov 20, 2024

Manatee Rescued from Tar River

Several scientists from NC State’s Center for Marine Sciences and Technology (CMAST) participated in the rescue of a female manatee on Monday that was sheltering in the warm-water outflow of a canal off the Tar River in Greenville.  The manatee had been sighted several times since October and was underweight and showing skin changes typical…