{"id":184555,"date":"2026-03-09T19:09:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184555\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T19:09:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T19:09:07","slug":"usf-helping-to-restore-tampa-bays-oyster-populations-by-3d-printing-habitats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/184555\/","title":{"rendered":"USF helping to restore Tampa Bay\u2019s oyster populations by 3D-printing habitats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Cliff McBride and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stpetersburg.usf.edu\/news\/listing.aspx?tag=Matthew%20Cimitile\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Matthew Cimitile<\/a>, University Communications and Marketing<\/p>\n<p>Along the seawall of Bayboro Harbor, a group of USF students and professors recently<br \/>\n                  installed 3D-printed habitats that they hope will soon house thousands of oysters.<br \/>\n                  Made of clay, the structures will act as a living seawall, propagating oysters that<br \/>\n                  can filter thousands of gallons of water per day and improve both water quality and<br \/>\n                  ecosystem health.<\/p>\n<p>The project is part of two classes within the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usf.edu\/honors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Judy Genshaft Honors College<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usf.edu\/arts-sciences\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">College of Arts and Sciences<\/a>, where students conduct site assessments, utilize 3D printing, install structures<br \/>\n                  and conduct environmental research. The classes are taught by USF Honors College professors<br \/>\n                  Tina Piracci and Taylor Crosland, and Integrative Biology professor William Ellis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur oyster restoration brick structures, or ORBS, are designed in a honeycomb pattern<br \/>\n                  that serve as ideal habitats for oysters while fusing art with innovative design,\u201d<br \/>\n                  Piracci said. \u201cThe overall goal is to reverse the decline of oyster populations in<br \/>\n                  Tampa Bay that have plummeted due to development and as more seawalls with synthetic<br \/>\n                  materials are constructed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oysters are a critical species for marine environments as they filter water to remove<br \/>\n                  excess nutrients, which can reduce harmful algal blooms. The reef structures they<br \/>\n                  create are critical for protecting shorelines and provide habitat for more than 300<br \/>\n                  marine species.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The artificial habitat installed at Bayboro Harbor will act as a pilot project. Students<br \/>\n                  in the USF biology course will track changes in fish numbers and behavior after installation,<br \/>\n                  as well as develop monitoring protocols for measuring oyster growth. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>From there, the project team plans to install about 30 3D-printed structures in southeast<br \/>\n                  St. Petersburg over the next several years. The team will share open-source information<br \/>\n                  so other educational groups can modify, print and install their own oyster reef structures.<\/p>\n<p>The project, part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.habitatlaboratory.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">The Habitat Laboratory<\/a>, is a partnership between the University of South Florida (including the College<br \/>\n                  of Design, Art and Performance), Clearwater Marine Aquarium, the Clay Co-Op, the Tampa<br \/>\n                  Bay Estuary Program, the USF St. Petersburg Student Green Energy Fund, Laguna Clay<br \/>\n                  Company, Saint Raphael Middle School, Shorecrest Preparatory School and Clam Bayou<br \/>\n                  Educational Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Cliff McBride and Matthew Cimitile, University Communications and Marketing Along the seawall of Bayboro Harbor, a group&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":184556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-184555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=184555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/184555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/184556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=184555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=184555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=184555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}