GoPro Photogrammetry
Currently, reefs can be 3D mapped with expensive cameras and high computing power. However, this creates barriers to reef mapping, especially for low-income countries. Therefore, we will be testing a new method of 3D mapping with GoPros and low computing power.
I will be conducting ground-truthing experiments using photogrammetry, buoyant weight, and volume displacement to measure changes in coral colony growth at Reef Systems Coral Farm in New Albany, Ohio. Our results will be compared to measurements from GoPro photogrammetry captured by our collaborator, Dr. Rongjun Qin at The Ohio State University. This will be field tested in Hawaiʻi in June 2025.
Do enhanced zooplankton concentrations increase growth in coral nurseries?
In collaboration with the Coral Restoration Foundation we are testing if enhancing zooplankton concentrations in situ with the Underwater Zooplankton Enhancement Light Array (UZELA, US Patent Application Number PCT/US2023/078357) increases coral growth for endangered species of Caribbean coral. Coral are dying at alarming rates due to climate change, and restoration needs to happen faster. Therefore, if UZELA can increase growth rates of coral, they can be out-planted for restoration earlier. This project is currently ongoing in the Florida Keys.
Coral Adaptation to Ocean Acidification
Climate change is a global concern, but corals are specifically susceptible to both changes in temperature and ocean pH. Greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere increase the absorption of of CO2 into seawater, which lowers seawater pH in a phenomenon called ocean acidification. The energy used in the process of coral calcification is dependent on the pH of the surrounding environment. With lowered pH through ocean acidification, corals spend more energy to secrete their calcium carbonate skeleton, therefore creating a trade-off between calcification and general metabolic function.
In collaboration with Dr. Jean-Pierre Gattuso’s lab in Villefrance, France, we are studying the effect that ocean acidification has on two cold water corals in the Mediterranean – Astroides calycularis and Cladocora caespitosa.
Both of these corals have been found growing near volcanic vents that release carbon dioxide gas into the water column, locally acidifying the surrounding ecosystem to pH values expected later this century. We are using different physiological parameters to learn how these corals can grow at these carbon dioxide vents, and if individuals from nearby sites can adapt to low pH.
How to resilient corals deal with long-term heat stress?
Coral bleaching is expected to increase in frequency and severity in the next decade. Yet some corals continue to survive and thrive after these bleaching events. One coral, Stylophora pistillata, has extreme thermal tolerance compared to many other species and can survive temperatures +6 above their average summer maxima for multiple weeks.
In collaboration with Dr. Christine Ferrier-Pagès at the Centre de Scientifique de Monaco we are studying the effects of 6-month temperature exposure (25°C, 27.5°C, and 30°C) and recovery of S. pistillata.