Stock assessment- The VIMS oyster Patent Tong survey provides data in support of both management and restoration of Virginia's oyster resource.
Ecology of marine invertebrate larvae- Oyster size-age relationships, survivorship, recruitment, fecundity, and metapopulation dynamics in relation to geographic location and local environmental conditions continue to be examined in a variety of projects.
Oysters and carbonate budgets in estuaries - Oysters reefs form the majority, if not the only vertically structured hard surfaces above the sediment-water interface in the majority of sedimentary estuaries in temperate and subtropical latitudes worldwide.
Aquaculture and the environment - Intensive oyster culture in the Chesapeake Bay offers enormous economic growth opportunities, but also poses unusual biological and management challenges.
Archaeology- Oysters and the reefs that they created were central to the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay prior to the early 20th century.
Stock assessment - The VIMS oyster Patent Tong survey provides data in support of both management and restoration of Virginia's oyster resource.