Science Speaker Series: Dr. Valerie Hall

To kick off Nantucket’s recreational scalloping season, which begins October 1, Dr. Hall will give an overview of the biology of the bay scallop and its unique fishery. She will illustrate the bay scallop’s hermaphroditic reproductive cycle, and explain its life history and population dynamics. Dr. Hall will then elaborate on the ecological conditions required for a healthy bay scallop population, and juxtapose those with the perpetual environmental problems that threaten the sustainability of bay scallops and the impacts that these problems have caused for the fishery of bay scallops on Nantucket. Lastly, Hall will provide an overview of the student-driven summer research and mentoring program she developed, which provides high school students the opportunity to participate in authentic marine biological research—while working alongside college student mentors—with a focal point on the Nantucket bay scallop and its vulnerability. 
 
?This program is FREE to all visitors, and no registration is required.