Shellfish growers in the Pacific Northwest are seeing a rise in mass die-off events in their crops of Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas), with growing concerns that such events may be worsened with climate change and ocean acidification. During his 2023 Hollings internship with the Northwest Fisheries Science Center Ocean Acidification Lab, Nicholas Chang worked on a project that aims to improve the resiliency of oyster aquaculture operations to these threats. As part of the project, which is a partnership between NOAA, the University of Washington, and the Baywater Shellfish Company, Nick studied oysters at shellfish farms in Washington’s Puget Sound to determine whether diploid and triploid oysters respond differently to environmental stressors such as heightened water temperatures or lowered pH.