The New Haven Harbor Living Laboratory

Oyster reefs are critically important for improving and maintaining water quality and reducing turbidity through nutrient uptake, sequestration, and filtration. They also create a valuable habitat for other species and improve coastal resiliency through wave attenuation and generate local “green” economy jobs.  This project is a collaboration between the Yale School of the Environment, the Wright Lab Advanced Instrumentation Development Group, and the New Haven Sound School to expand the Sound School’s artificial oyster reef project and develop enhanced monitoring of water quality through a networked sensor approach. The creation of this artificial reef will provide a “living laboratory” that both Sound School and Yale students and scientists will use to study the impacts of artificial reef building on carbon dioxide chemistry, biodiversity, and eutrophication in the New Haven Harbor.