Hello Reddit!

I'm Dr. Liz Burmester, an ecologist with the Billion Oyster Project - a nonprofit dedicated to restoring 1 billion oysters in the NY Harbor by 2035 through education and community involvement. I'm here to answer questions with help from Atlas Obscura.

Why oysters? As suspension (filter) feeders and reef builders, oysters are a keystone species capable of important ecosystem services like water filtration and habitat creation for a variety of marine creatures. My research revolves around understanding how organisms survive, reproduce, and respond to stress. We use that information to inform the Billion Oyster Project's work on restoring the NY Harbor's - once impressive and thriving, but now functionally extinct - population of oysters.

Before transitioning to this urbanized environment, I researched another group of keystone reef builders - corals - and their ability to recover from localized stress.

As part of my work, I also serve as a mentor to high school students performing their own independent research in a career and technical education program at the Urban Assembly Harbor School in New York City.

Looking forward to your questions - I'll be on at 12 ET (16 UT) - ask me anything!