CMAST - NC State University Center for Marine Sciences and Technology

10/26/2026

It’s NC Oyster Month! Oyster research is a common focus with the labs here at CMAST. The Shellfish Pathology Lab leads research and education on pathogens and diseases that impact shellfish. The lab works closely with growers and regulators to protect shellfish health and support sustainable aquaculture and fisheries.

Emma Mathew is a first-year Master's Student in Dr. Ben-Horin's lab, whose research is focused on how algal toxins impact oyster feeding and health through in-lab experiments and microscopic analysis of oyster tissues.

Her graduate research and participation in the monthly sampling of oysters in Pamlico Sound contribute to the multidisciplinary efforts of North Carolina Center for Coastal Algae, People, and Environment (NC-C-CAPE).

“My favorite thing about oysters is that their health can tell us a lot about the health of our coastal ecosystems!” - Emma

10/23/2026

In early October, our Seafood Laboratory, Sea Grant, and other partners joined the NC Seafood Festival at the Fisherman’s Village! 🦐🌊

Fisherman’s Village is a collaborative effort between Carteret Catch, NC Catch, and the North Carolina Fisheries Association (NCFA) dedicated to celebrating commercial fishing and showcasing sustainable industry practices. Together, they partner with the NC Seafood Festival to connect attendees directly with local seafood culture, working waterfronts, and the people behind the catch!

Here are a few highlights from the weekend:

📍Inside Jack’s, festivalgoers got a hands-on look at TEDs (Turtle Excluder Devices), using plastic turtles and shrimp to test the nets and see how modern gear minimizes bycatch while keeping sea turtles safe. Right outside behind Jack’s, attendees were able to step aboard a shrimp trawler to see how it all works in the field!

🐟 Seafood Quality 101: Our team shared practical tips on what to look for when buying fresh fish at the local market.

👨‍🍳 On Sunday, NC State's Ben Reading and NC Sea Grant's Eric Herbst joined Chef Dawn Freeman (Private Chef & former NC Seafood Festival Queen) for a presentation on striped bass aquaculture and cooking demo where Chef Dawn served up incredible "Inside Out Striped Bass Tacos"—pan-seared StriperHub Striped Bass on crispy tortilla chips, topped with pineapple-jalapeño jam and crispy lime coconut" 🤤 at the "Got To Be NC Seafood" Cooking Stage.

StriperHub is a consortium, led by NC State University and NC Sea Grant, of researchers, agency partners, and commercial fish farmers working to establish the striped bass aquaculture industry in the U.S. For the past five years, StriperHub has partnered with the NC Seafood Festival to bring farm-raised NC striped bass from water to plate!

🐟 Our partners at the Carteret Community College Aquaculture Center brought in live flounder to show what to look for when identifying different flounder species! Also at the exhibit, an aquarium showed oyster and clam’s capacity to filter water!

10/21/2026

CMAST Director Dr. David Eggleston recently participated in the World Association of Marine Stations Conference at the Bamfield Marine Science Center, Bamfield, Canada.

🇨🇦 This conference brought together global marine station leaders and researchers from 15+ countries, with a focus on shared and best practices in:
🌊 Oceans & Human Health
💡 Ocean Innovation & Bioeconomies
🤝 Community, Education & Culture
📜 Ocean Policy
🔬 Marine Stations as Distributed Research Platforms

Great to see international collaboration in action for the future of our oceans! 💙

10/19/2026

October is NC Oyster Month! Oysters are so important to our state, we have an entire month to shell-ebrate them!

For the past three years, Eggleston Lab students could be found scuba diving in the murky waters of the Pamlico Sound. They are monitoring multiple oyster reef sanctuaries, areas where harvesting is prohibited to encourage the growth of oyster populations. The students excavate oysters and monitor these reefs to see how healthy they are, what fish are using the habitat, and to understand how these sanctuaries can improve the oyster fishery in North Carolina.

These sanctuaries produce spat (baby oysters) that will help seed other surrounding natural and restored reefs. By monitoring the sanctuaries both pre and post construction, the lab hopes to gain an understanding of how the reefs are establishing and developing to ensure their survival for years to come.

It is important to ensure NC maintains healthy oyster reef sanctuaries because they provide habitat for many commercially and recreationally important fish species and shellfish, and because oysters filter water, so they will help improve the water quality for the second largest estuary in the country!

Stay tuned for the rest of the month to continue learning about CMAST’s oyster work.

10/06/2026

What a great day of STEM learning at CMAST! ❤️🐺🔬

We had 15 incredible K–5 educators representing seven different counties join us for our newest STEM to Your Doorstep training!

The day was filled with lots of laughter, great conversations, hands-on exploration, and so many good ideas for bringing these tools into elementary classrooms. Teachers explored Xploris probeware, Beaver Bot, STEM literature, makerspace materials, and more, all while thinking about meaningful ways to get students investigating, creating, problem-solving, and talking about science.

And the best part? This was just the beginning! Now that these teachers are trained, they have access to borrow this equipment and put it directly into the hands of their students.

15 teachers. 7 counties. A whole lot of STEM headed into classrooms across Eastern NC. ❤️

👀 Stay tuned for upcoming STEM to Your Doorstep workshop dates!

10/06/2026

Last week, the Buckel Lab was out on the water tagging Spanish mackerel. In four days, they caught several hundred Spanish and successfully tagged 118 fish! Check out the videos of tagging the fish in Mount Maker Charters post.

10/05/2026

10/05/2026

Last month, six fourth-year NC State veterinary students split time between CMAST - NC State University Center for Marine Sciences and Technology and The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Center in Surf City for a clinical rotation on sea turtle medicine and rehabilitation.

Dr. Craig Harms, a faculty member in the College of Veterinary Medicine and based at CMAST, has been offering the 2-week-long course on Sea Turtle Rehabilitation and Medicine for 20 plus years. The 4th year veterinary students travel from Raleigh to CMAST to obtain hands-on experience in husbandry, disease diagnosis and treatment in rehabilitating sea turtles.

At the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Center, they conducted exams on the sea turtle patients, evaluated them for release, and participated in the public sea turtle release.

This conservation work for endangered sea turtles is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. (ES Permit 26ST05)

10/01/2026

In Spring 2027, a special class of undergraduates will be bound for Morehead City, NC to participate in an intensive hands-on semester in marine science. For almost ten years, NC State undergrads have studied and worked on the coast, getting their feet wet and their hands sandy alongside top professional researchers and graduate students.

Watch the video to learn about what Spring 2026 Semester at CMAST student, Sam Stanforth, had to say about his experience and research!

10/01/2026

🦀 What is Hematodinium, and why are researchers looking for it in blue crabs?

Hematodinium is a microscopic parasite that can infect blue crabs. It is not considered a threat to human health, but it can cause serious disease and mortality in crabs, particularly young crabs.

That makes this a fisheries and ecosystem story, not a seafood safety warning.

Researchers are examining how infection patterns may relate to crab size and life stage, seagrass nursery habitat, season, salinity, temperature, water quality, location, and other environmental conditions.

We will be sharing what the research is showing, and what scientists are still working to understand, in the next Coastal Carolina Riverwatch newsletter.

📬 Sign up to receive the first update:
https://coastalcarolinariverwatch.dm.networkforgood.com/forms/join-our-mailing-list