Rob Witbaard

I study the structure of the seabed, the animals that live there, and the processes that influence it. These include ocean currents, weather conditions, and climate, but also human activities. Think of commercial fishing that disturbs the seabed, large-scale construction of wind farms, and beach nourishment. I use the ocean quahog, a shellfish that can live to an extremely old age: 100 years is quite normal. Just like a tree, the ocean quahog has annual rings that allow you to look back in time. This enables me to analyze how algae, the ocean quahog's food source, grew in the past and what influenced this in seawater.