Project abstract

The coral reefs of the Eastern Tropical Pacific thrive in a region whose physico-chemical conditions are marginal for the growth of reefs. Despite this, historical data suggest that these reefs have a high capacity to recover after periods of highly stressful environmental conditions, such as those that cause coral bleaching. The Rohr Reef Resilience program (RRR) aims to discover if this previously-observed resilience is a robust characteristic of shallow-water coral reefs in this region, and, if so, to reveal the mechanisms – molecular, physiological, demographic, and ecological -- that underly this resilience. We combine video and photo-mosaic technology, visual surveys, assessments the recovery of reef communities on artificial surfaces, physiological and biochemical analysis to assess corals heath, as well as genomic analyses of coral hosts and the microbes that live in and on them to monitor ecological change along gradients of upwelling intensity and through time. 

The intern’s project will involve the analysis of coral reef photomosaics, specifically the tracking of changes in community composition through time, demographic rates (growth and mortality of colonies), and changes in colony condition evident from changes in coral colony color (for example, quantifying the stress response known as coral bleaching, in which corals lose the symbiotic algae that provide corals with their pigmentation).
 

Skills required

The project involves extensive use of computational tools. Prior experience with programming is necessary, ideally with Python. Some background in statistics or mathematics is also desirable.


 
Mentor name: Sean Connolly
Link to lab page: https://striresearch.si.edu/connolly-lab/
Co-mentor(s): Migdonio Gonzalez
Location of internship: Naos Marine Laboratories