Since 2017, Hewitt high school students have been helping the Billion Oyster Project, an organization dedicated to regenerating New York Harbor’s oyster reefs, solve a local, real-world challenge. Oyster reefs do important work in a marine ecosystem by removing water pollutants, providing habitats for a wide variety of organisms, and reducing flooding and erosion. The Billion Oyster Project relies on community scientists to achieve their mission, and throughout the year Hewitt students conduct hands-on field research by monitoring their oyster research station for oyster growth, biodiversity, and water quality. The data they collect will help the Billion Oyster Project achieve its goal of replenishing New York’s waterways with a critical natural resource.
Hewitt News
The Hewitt team starts their work by pulling up their oyster cage from the Hudson River
The Billion Oyster Project collects and repurposes shells from local restaurants, which provide oyster larvae a substrate to attach to and continue their life-cycle
Members of the Hewitt team carefully transfer oysters from their cage to a container of water taken from the Hudson River
The students observe each oyster, record its size, and make note of any oyster larvae on the shells
Students are excited to find interesting examples of biodiversity in their cage, such as this mussel who made an oyster shell its home
The Hewitt team’s field research also includes testing water samples for temperature, acidity, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and nutrient levels
And inspecting the oyster cage for organisms such as small fish, crabs, sea squirts, and different forms of aquatic plant life all of whom call this tiny habitat home
After recording their data, Hewitt's community scientists will send their findings to the Billion Oyster Project