Grant Puts Spiny Lobsters on Florida Tech Research Menu

– Dr. Junda Lin, Florida Tech professor of biological sciences and director of the Vero Beach Marine Laboratory, has earned a $49,500 grant from Poseidon
Ocean Sciences to develop technology for culturing spiny lobsters and other marine tropical species.

“The better able we are to cultivate and harvest marine life, the less damage there will be to aquatic environments,” said Lin. “Harvesters in the wild can
cause a great deal of damage to the fragile tropical reefs where spiny lobsters and other marine animals live.”

Lin has received similar grants previously for researching the care and feeding of rare and delicate tropical shrimp. Collecting the tiny shrimp in their
native coral habitat for the aquarium trade is environmentally destructive. Poseidon Ocean Sciences, of New York, N.Y., pursues marine-based technologies
and research. The company seeks solutions to environmental and commercial technologies that adversely affect ocean environments. It also funds innovations
in the artificial culture of marine and freshwater organisms of economic importance and develops natural compounds for use in medical treatments.

Lin holds a doctoral degree in marine science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.