The Rutgers-led Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project—awarded $12.6 million last fall to develop an artificial reef ecosystem to help project coastlines from storm damage, flooding and erosion—recently conducted laboratory testing of modular oyster reef-mimicking structures for eventual installation in the Gulf Coast.
The multi-institution project, “Reefense: A Mosaic Oyster Habitat (MOH) for Coastal Defense,” consists of three different teams comprising multiple institutions that are charged with developing resilient coastlines based upon oysters and corals, and the protective reef structures they build. The Rutgers-led team is focusing on a shellfish reef, while the two other teams, led by the University of Miami and University of Hawaii, will work with corals.
Full article at SEBS/NJAES Newsroom