Emma Strand, Ph.D.

Clam dipping in Ipswich, MA for a collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Research Institute in Seattle, WA

Environmental Epigenetics for Marine Conservation

As part of the Healthy Fisheries and Oceans division, Dr. Strand’s research mission is to enhance marine conservation efforts by 1) understanding what it takes for organisms to be ‘healthy’ and ‘resilient’ in a rapidly changing ocean, and 2) filling data gaps in sustainable fisheries and aquaculture management with genomic technologies. By partnering with non-profit, federal, and state conservation practitioners, Dr. Strand’s research brings an (epi)genomics lens to better protecting our most valuable ecosystems.

Research Focus

Elucidating the (genomic) mechanisms of resilience to environmental change in marine organisms

As oceans warm, marine organisms need to be resilient and be able to withstand, resist, recover from, and acclimatize to the rapidly changing environments around them. From coral to fish, Dr. Strand’s research investigates the genomic patterns (e.g., epigenetics, gene expression) that may elicit differential phenotypes before, during, and after environmental exposure. Additionally, she evaluates the potential for resilience or susceptibility to be passed down to future generations. By identifying the most important factors involved in resilience, like thermal tolerance, Dr. Strand’s research aims to turn these unknown changes into predictable ones. Through partnerships with conservation practitioners, she is chasing the ability to predict the ‘winners’ and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of conservation efforts.

Featured Projects:

Evaluating the transgenerational impacts of temperature stress in Atlantic salmon aquaculture

The Gulf of Maine is warming more rapidly than most ocean regions, and a result, Atlantic salmon reproduction is heavily impacted at aquaculture facilities like the USDA ARS National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center. Spawning is occurring a month later than normal, and offspring survival rates (i.e., eye-up rates) have decreased. In collaboration with USDA, Dr. Strand is investigating the epigenetic effects of warmer temperatures on adults (a.k.a., broodstock) as well as the potential for epigenetic inheritance and transgenerational impacts.

Collaborators: National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center : USDA ARS

Identifying biomarkers of thermal tolerance in Hawaiian corals

Dr. Strand is a collaborator on a long-term monitoring project in Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, focused on paired coral colonies where one consistently bleaches during the summer while the other remains resilient. Her work delves into the symbiotic community and epigenetic differences that are driving recurring phenotypes during high temperature seasons to identify biomarkers of thermal resilience in closely related individuals.

Collaborators: Hollie Putnam – Biological Sciences (University of Rhode Island), Katie Barott | Department of Biology (University of Pennsylvania), Craig E. Nelson, Department of Oceanography (University of Hawai’i)

Harnessing predictable epigenetic changes to fill data gaps in fisheries and aquaculture management

In contrast to unknown epigenetic changes in response to environmental conditions, there are predictable, stable epigenetic changes that occur in the cell as well. For example, as individuals age, DNA methylation patterns change in predictable ways in specific regions of the genomes. We can take advantage of these predictable changes by generating ‘epigenetic aging clock’ models. These models can provide fisheries management with valuable age information that is lacking for many commercially important fisheries species.

Featured Projects:

Generating epigenetic aging clock models for sustainable fisheries management

Dr. Strand’s research takes advantage of already predictable epigenetic pattern changes, like those that occur with the passage of time. Using DNA methylation change as biomarker of aging, Dr. Strand generates epigenetic aging clock models that predict age values of individual organisms like fish and squid. Fisheries management depends heavily on accurate age information to sustainably manage populations that will be resilient to future environmental conditions.

Collaborators: Northeast Fisheries Science Center | NOAA Fisheries, Northwest Fisheries Science Center | NOAA Fisheries, Narragansett Laboratory | NOAA Fisheries

Alumni

Brianna Perino: Bioinformatics Intern at GMGI, went to University of Namur as Ph.D. student

Featured Collaborators

Richard McBride, Ph.D. and Eric Robillard, NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), Woods Hole, MA

Anna Mercer, Ph.D., NOAA Narragansett Laboratory, Narragansett, RI

Hollie Putnam, Ph.D., University of Rhode Island

Laurence Ettwiller, Ph.D., New England Biolabs

Cristian Jorge Gallardo Escárate, Ph.D., Universidad de Concepción, Chile, and Interdisciplinary Center for Aquaculture Research (INCAR)

Erin Legacki, Ph.D., USDA ARS National Cold Water Marine Aquaculture Center

Featured Publications

See Dr. Strand’s full list of publications here.

Strand, E., McBride, R., Robillard, E., Bodnar, A., Wanamaker, S., & O’Donnell, T. (2025). Building an epigenetic clock: Utilizing whole genome DNA methylation patterns to predict age in haddock, Melanogrammus aeglefinus. bioRxiv, 2025-10. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.16.682892

Strand, E. L., Wong, K. H., Farraj, A., Gray, S., McMenamin, A., & Putnam, H. M. (2024). Coral species-specific loss and physiological legacy effects are elicited by extended marine heatwave. Journal of Experimental Biology, jeb-246812. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.246812.

Huffmyer A.S., Ashey J., Strand E., Chiles E.N., Su X., & Putnam H.M. (2024) Coral larvae increase nitrogen assimilation to stabilize algal symbiosis and combat bleaching under increased temperature. PLoS Biol 22(11): e3002875. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002875

Chille, E. E., Strand, E. L., Scucchia, F., Neder, M., Schmidt, V., Sherman, M. O., Mass, T., & Putnam, H. M. (2022). Energetics, but not development, is impacted in coral embryos exposed to ocean acidification. Journal of Experimental Biology, 225(19), jeb243187. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.243187

Gleason, L. U., Strand, E. L., Hizon, B. J., & Dowd, W. W. (2018). Plasticity of thermal tolerance and its relationship with growth rate in juvenile mussels (Mytilus californianus). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 285(1877), 20172617. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2017.2617