Understanding what calls the Inner Harbor home is an important step in making the Harbor a better place for everybody. We can get a deeper sense of the Inner Harbor’s health over time by sampling and analyzing it at regular intervals. We do this by placing biodisks in the water and sampling what is living on them every month.
Then, we use the microscope and advanced DNA analysis to identify what organisms are present. We can use this data to find ways to affect positive changes on the Harbor and use this natural resource in sustainable ways.
We want to know if the community of aquatic animals varies in locations with different watersheds and shorelines, such as areas of suburban runoff, industrial legacy pollutants, or restoration activities. The project is therefore expanding and sampling 6 sites around the Chesapeake Bay.
Sampling sites are denoted by red markers
What is Barcoding?
Simply that when we read the DNA of an organism, we can use that DNA code to identify the organism, similar to the way that store scanner can read the barcode of an item and use that code to identify the item.
