Rate My Professor Chester Zarnoch

Chester B. Zarnoch is a Professor in the Department of Natural Sciences at Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY), within the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences. He serves as Deputy Chair of Environmental Science, Graduate Faculty in the Biology Program at the CUNY Graduate Center, affiliate faculty at the Science and Resilience Institute at Jamaica Bay, and Director of the CUNY Climate Scholars Program. Zarnoch earned his Ph.D. in Biology from the CUNY Graduate Center in 2006. His research focuses on benthic ecology, marine ecology, shellfish biology, aquaculture, nutrient cycling, and sediment dynamics in urban estuaries and coastal ecosystems. Active in marine ecology and aquaculture since 2001, his work examines nature-based solutions for improving water quality, enhancing coastal resilience, and evaluating ecosystem services from oysters, mussels, salt marshes, eelgrass beds, and constructed wetlands. He investigates impacts of urbanization, eutrophication, acidification, and restoration on microbial communities and species interactions.

Zarnoch's publications include 'Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) filtration, biodeposition, and sediment nitrogen cycling at two oyster reefs with contrasting water quality in Great Bay Estuary' (Biogeochemistry, 2015), 'Contributions of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) to nutrient cycling in an urban river' (Biogeochemistry, 2017), 'Effect of eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) on sediment carbon and nitrogen dynamics in an urban estuary' (Ecological Applications, 2014), 'Beyond bioextraction: the role of oyster-mediated denitrification in nutrient management' (Environmental Science & Technology, 2021), and 'Species interactions critical to restoration success in an urban living shoreline' (Ecological Restoration, 2025). His scholarship, cited over 700 times, advances understanding of shellfish and marsh contributions to nitrogen removal and ecosystem restoration in urban settings. Zarnoch contributes to public outreach through seminars on bivalve restoration and climate impacts, and mentors students in research on urban ecology.