Head into the Marine and Natural Sciences Building at Roger Williams, walk down the stairs and wander toward the back of the building, and you’ll soon find yourself in a unique aquatic environment: the University’s Wet Lab, a 3,000-square-foot marine laboratory equipped with running seawater, dry lab space for microscope and chemical analysis work and Rhode Island's only shellfish hatchery.

“One of the reasons this facility is important is that our undergraduates are encouraged to do science in addition to learning about science in their classes,” says Skip Pomeroy, professor of biology. Faculty members also use the lab to stage their research.

In the shellfish hatchery, scallops, oysters, and quahogs are spawned. “The resulting spat—small baby shellfish—are then grown in upwellers, which are floating culture systems that pump seawater rich in phytoplankton through them as a food source for the growing shellfish,” Professor Pomeroy says. “These shellfish are then used in student research projects and distributed to different agencies, such as the Rhode Island Shellfish Association, in order to promote shellfish aquaculture within the state.”

Roger Williams provides opportunity for students to write their own research proposals, and over the years they've presented the results at a number of national conferences. Current research involves the development of a local strain of disease-resistant oyster.

“Basically, the Wet Lab is a busy place, seven days a week all year long,” Professor Pomeroy says. “Many of our students are funded to work in the lab on either faculty-sponsored research or their own research during the summer. This is a place where students can use the knowledge gained from classes to investigate marine systems.”