Cornerstone of Bay Science: A Tour of the Cooperative Oxford Laboratory
This joint DNR-federal facility is critical for oyster science and other marine research for the region
The Cooperative Oxford Laboratory in Oxford, Maryland. In 2024, the lab celebrated its 60th anniversary in its current location. Maryland DNR photo
The Cooperative Oxford Laboratory is a unique collaborative research facility shared by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Ocean Service and the Chesapeake Bay Office of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Located just off the Tred Avon River near the town of Oxford on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the lab brings together state and federal scientists to study important research topics for the Chesapeake Bay region, including oyster diseases, fish diseases, marine mammal mortality, and the federally endangered Atlantic sturgeon.
Oyster disease research
Oysters from the Choptank River, that scientists will soon test for the oyster diseases MSX and Dermo. Photo by Anthony Burrows, DNR
Biologist Brian Preziosi displays an oyster before testing it for Dermo during a presentation for Maryland DNR Science Week. Photo by Anthony Burrows, Maryland DNR
The lab began in 1960 as a federal research institution studying oyster diseases, and researchers at the lab continue to study oyster diseases as part of the lab’s broader focus on aquatic animal health. Researchers take tissue samples from oysters found throughout the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay and test them for the presence of the diseases Dermo and MSX.
First found in the Bay in 1949 and 1959, Dermo and MSX have caused massive mortalities in the regional oyster population over the decades. Wild oysters are slowly building up resistance to the diseases.
Scientists at Oxford Lab sample over 1,500 oysters annually, analyzing rectal tissue for Dermo and gill tissue for MSX. With this work, they can determine where the diseases are most prevalent in oysters and how salinity and other variables affect the distribution of infections.
Fish health
The Cooperative Oxford Laboratory plays a critical role in maintaining the health of Maryland’s fish populations through comprehensive diagnostic testing for both hatchery-raised and wild fish from lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams across the state.
Biologist Ammar Hanif prepares brown trout samples to test for pathogens. Photo by Joe Zimmermann, Maryland DNR
The lab conducts routine surveillance for a wide range of pathogens, including bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi that can impact fish health and aquatic ecosystems. Using advanced diagnostic techniques such as cell culture for viral detection, biochemical and immunological assays, molecular testing, and histological analysis, the lab provides timely and accurate disease identification.
This testing supports the management of Maryland’s state fish hatcheries by preventing the spread of disease, improving fish health outcomes, and ensuring that stocked fish do not introduce harmful pathogens into State of Maryland waters, including the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The lab’s diagnostic work also informs broader research on disease dynamics in wild fish populations, helping to predict and mitigate outbreaks that could impact fisheries and aquatic resources.
Biologist Mark Matsche displays spleen tissue from a striped bass that will be used to test the fish for mycobacteriosis. Photo by Anthony Burrows, Maryland DNR
Scientists at the lab also study mycobacteriosis in striped bass. This bacterial disease is highly prevalent in the resident striped bass population and associated with significant mortality. Scientists can diagnose mycobacteriosis in fish by examining tissues under a microscope, culturing mycobacteria from internal organs such as the spleen, and detecting mycobacteria DNA in organs using molecular techniques.
Other researchers at the laboratory are studying striped bass body fat indices and stomach contents. Scientists analyze the stomach contents of individual striped bass, identifying major food items like juvenile menhaden. This information helps scientists to develop an estimate of striped bass foraging status in Maryland waters of the Bay.
Marine mammal and sea turtle strandings
The Cooperative Oxford Laboratory also houses the department’s Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Response Program. Stranding Response Program staff work in collaboration with the National Aquarium, and are responsible for responding to all dead strandings that occur within the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries, and along Maryland’s Atlantic Coast.
On call year-round, the staff responds to large whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea turtles, and occasionally manatees. Since its inception, the program has responded to over 1,500 marine mammal and sea turtle cases.
Stranding Technician Matthew Collinson, Stranding Response Coordinator Amanda Weschler, and Stranding Biologist Chloe Jacobson of Maryland DNR’s Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Response Program display protected species parts and specimens recovered from stranding responses. Photo by Anthony Burrows, Maryland DNR
During a stranding response, the staff first examines animals externally for tags, lesions, predation marks, and any signs of disease or human interaction before a full necropsy is conducted. The staff strives to thoroughly assess the animal’s health at its time of death, in part by sampling organs for comprehensive diagnostic screening, including histopathology, toxicology, virology, biotoxins, microbiology, genetics, life history, and parasitology. The Stranding Response Program operates with support from established partnerships with other stranding networks in the Greater Atlantic Region, federal agencies, local organizations, and other stranding collaborators.
Marine mammal outreach items, including a skull from a bottlenose dolphin (front), and a harbor porpoise. Photo by Anthony Burrows, Maryland DNR
Resident sturgeon
An Atlantic sturgeon in the Cooperative Oxford Laboratory. DNR photo
There are unusual living animals at the Oxford Lab as well. The research facility is home to several Atlantic sturgeon, an endangered species that spawns in Marshyhope Creek.
Before the species was listed on the federal endangered species list, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources collected wild sturgeon caught as bycatch by Maryland commercial watermen through an Atlantic Sturgeon Reward Program. With this program, DNR scientists were working to spawn sturgeon in captivity to reintroduce juveniles into selected tributaries. When the species was listed in 2012, the program halted and scientists were not allowed to reintroduce them into the wild.
Researchers now keep the remaining Atlantic sturgeon for education and outreach. Four Atlantic sturgeon—three from Maryland waters and one from Canada—live in tanks at the lab.
Want to learn more?
The Cooperative Oxford Laboratory is not regularly open to the public, but there are opportunities for school groups, visiting researchers, and similar groups. The lab will also host visitors for the annual Oxford Day on April 26, and the newly established Friends of the Cooperative Oxford Lab is developing a self-guided tour for the exterior of the lab.
The Cooperative Oxford Laboratory sits near downtown Oxford, next to the Tred Avon River. Maryland DNR photo