NCCOS Staff

Suzanne Bricker, PhD

Bivalve Ecosystem Service Research Lead
NCCOS Program Office and Headquarters
Cooperative Oxford Laboratory

Dr. Bricker leads research evaluating severity of nutrient impacts in US and international waters, and develops tools to improve conditions. Her collaborative research with modelers, economists, aquaculture industry, and environmental managers about ecosystem services provided by shellfish (oysters, clams) informs marine policy and helps develop successful innovative nutrient management measures.

Her research focuses on developing tools to manage coastal resources and to inform marine policy. Her recent projects involve evaluation of the potential for bioextraction of nutrients from coastal waters by bivalve shellfish, and potential inclusion of shellfish growers in nutrient trading programs in several US locations (e.g. Long Island Sound and Great Bay Piscataqua Estuary). Bricker is a member of the Chesapeake Bay Program Oyster Best Management Practice Panel which facilitated the approval of harvested oyster tissue to be credited for nutrient removal in the Chesapeake Region. She works collaboratively with benthic ecologists, modelers, economists, members of the aquaculture industry, and environmental managers to quantify ecosystem services provided by a variety of species of cultivated shellfish. Her team developed the Assessment of Estuarine Trophic Status (ASSETS), a method that has been applied extensively in the US (as NEEA), Europe, and China for eutrophication assessment. Components of the ASSETS model were included in the Farm Aquaculture Resource Management (FARM) model, a production model that also allows estimation of nutrient removal via aquaculture. Bricker has extensive experience working with multi-disciplinary teams and also with multi-national project teams.

Bricker was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in Oceanography from University of Rhode Island.

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NCCOS delivers ecosystem science solutions for stewardship of the nation’s ocean and coastal resources to sustain thriving coastal communities and economies.

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