Greetings,

Much of the research that goes on at FHL is “basic science.”  We all try to understand how nature works, whether that be genes replicating, brains learning, predators affecting prey populations…but few of us directly address practical problems that beset humans or their societies.  Our beloved Gene Kozloff famously said to a reporter “We don’t make soap from fish here” (translation: we don’t solve commercial problems), which of course became a newspaper headline.  We are proud that the basic science at FHL often does ultimately get used in medical fields, ecosystem restoration projects, and other applied ways.  This month’s Tide Bite describes a project that is simultaneously basic and applied.  Molly worked on the basic questions of how a common marine animal, the edible mussel, allocates energy to different essential life functions, and how different nutritional and environmental conditions affect these “choices.”  But this work is also clearly practical: mussels are valuable aquaculture species, they need to be able to “hold on” to the ropes where they are grown, but if they don’t also grow quickly they are not a useful commodity.  Molly’s research addresses both sides of the basic/applied ‘dichotomy,’ showing that in some ways this is an artificial distinction.

Best,
Dr. Megan Dethier
FHL Director