Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School sophomore Eva Faber of Edgartown has been awarded a one-year grant to study blue claw crabs in the Edgartown and Tisbury Great Ponds. Eva will work with William Wilcox, the water resource planner from the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, and Luanne Johnson, a wildlife biologist completing her Ph.D. in Environmental Studies at Antioch University.

Eva’s research will coordinate with the Great Pond Foundation to gain a better understanding of how mechanical pond openings influence blue claw crab abundance, distribution and recruitment. She will document what role the crabs play in their ecosystems. The results of her study may prove helpful both to local shellfish constables and to the Great Pond Foundation.

The grant was awarded by the Marjot Foundation of Falmouth,

“This is the very first time we have awarded a Marjot grant to a student from Martha’s Vineyard. We certainly hope to be able to support many more students in the future,” said Dr. Carol Reinisch, president of the foundation. Eva’s research proposal on the role of blue claw crabs in the aquatic ecosystem was extensively reviewed by Marjot’s Science Advisory Board and judged to be one of the top three that will be funded.