I am a Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at Hamilton College. The Tomasetti Lab is broadly interested in climate change and other anthropogenic drivers of biogeochemical and ecological change in coastal ecosystems. We also have a keen interest in sustainable coastal food systems, coastal policy, and historical ecology.

Primarily, we focus on economically important shellfish species and their habitats including: Argopecten irradians (bay scallops) in seagrasses, Callinectes sapidus (blue crabs) in estuaries, Crassostrea virginica (oysters) in natural and restored oyster reefs, and Placopecten magellanicus (sea scallops) in coastal shelf habitat.

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For updates follow me on twitter or ResearchGate.

198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323

stomaset@hamilton.edu

Global coastal change

Combustion of fossil fuels have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide to levels unprecedented in the era of modern humans leading to rising temperatures and shifts in the biogeochemistry of the ocean. Against this backdrop of global climate change, the coastal zone—a point of convergence between the ocean, atmosphere, and continents—is also subject to regional pressures associated with urbanization, agriculture, and exploitation of natural resources. Our lab collates and contributes a wide array of coastal environmental and ecological monitoring data from the past and present. These datasets are essential to capture shifting biogeochemical patterns and document the extreme events that punctuate the gradual trends under climate change. We consider environmental variability and organism responses in tandem in order to clarify important thresholds, as small shifts in the biogeochemical profiles of certain habitats can push individuals past physiological tipping points.

Shellfish, shellfish habitats, and shellfisheries

Shellfish resources have benefited coastal communities worldwide for centuries through their provision of nutrition and ecosystem services. For many shellfish species throughout history, exploitation and overfishing have led to population declines and collapses with cascading effects on coastal ecosystems. Our lab works to understand the relationships between shellfish species, their habitats, and overall ecosystem functioning. Our work spans from shallow estuaries to broad continental shelf systems and across ecologically-important habitats like seagrass meadows, oyster reefs, and salt marshes. We are interested in shellfish-derived ecosystem services such as water filtration, nutrient recycling, habitat provision, and shoreline stabilization, and we are committed to the sustainable use of shellfish resources.

Coastal restoration, aquaculture, and policy

We collaborate with community members to strengthen coastal system-reliant communities through data-driven restoration, conservation, aquaculture, and policy advancements. We work with stakeholders and policymakers to recognize the needs of the community and provide tools for decision-support. We also actively strive to increase coastal resilience to climate change and mitigate coastal impairment by optimizing restoration approaches and developing innovative shellfish and seaweed aquaculture-based solutions.