Newsroom

CORVALLIS - An Oregon State University student from Bend has earned the National Shellfisheries Association Award for best student presentation.

Laura Hauck, an OSU senior in biology and a teaching assistant in invertebrate zoology, gave a presentation on the status of the European green crab and native crabs in Yaquina Bay and Coos Bay at the recent Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association convention in Vancouver, Wash.

A non-native species, the European green crab has a reputation for consuming large numbers of juvenile clams and oysters. Their introduction has the potential to affect wild stocks of oysters and clams and aquaculture production of these creatures. The green crab may also feed on juvenile crabs of other species, including Dungeness, or may compete with them for space and food.

Hauck became hooked on marine studies during a two-year overseas stint in the Marine Corps when she learned undersea diving. She plans to pursue graduate school in marine biological natural products or biological oceanography.