North Carolina Sea Grant oversees water column and bottom leases at the Shellfish Mariculture and Demonstration Center, located at Carteret Community College and the North Carolina State University Center for Marine Sciences and Technology. The leases provide research and training opportunities for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, and researchers across various institutions, as well as a platform for extension, engagement, and philanthropy with coastal communities and groups. Research projects have included evaluations of various top and bottom culture shellfish grow-out methods, shellfish crop diversification in North Carolina including bay scallops and sunray venus clams, and investigations into Sudden Unusual Mortality Syndrome in eastern oysters. These research studies often include close collaborations with other universities and groups maintaining shellfish leases of their own, making the regional coordination of university research farms a high priority for impactful scholarship.