The TIDE project is a multi-year, large-scale experiment to illuminate the effects of nitrogen pollution and global change on saltmarshes at the Plum Island Ecosystems Long-Term Ecological Research site. The TIDE team noticed a few years ago that the natural range of the fiddler crab is moving north as ocean water warms with climate change. The principal investigator of the TIDE project is MBL Fellow Linda Deegan.
The day begins early, tide dependent of course. My team assembles. We are a small group consisting of PhD candidate Michael Roy, undergraduate lab assistant Richard Wong, and me, an undergraduate field tech, all from Jarrett Byrnes’ lab. We gather our gear, our scientific instruments, our boots and buckets. We set out for a glorious day of experimental set-up in the salt marsh. I am so excited to be here as this is my first time working in the field. This is the reason I went to college for biology, to have a career in which I spend copious amounts of time in nature. Read more of the article here.