Plasticity Across Coral Partners

As an NSF Ocean Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow, I am comparing shifts in physiology and metabolism in response to environmental conditions between coral functional groups. I am exploring which coral holobiont partner contributes more to that phenotypic plasticity: the coral cost, the algal symbiont, or the microbial community.

Within a collaborative CORDAP project, I am using a novel, non-invasive instrument to measure photobiological traits of the algal symbionts within a diversity of coral species. I am interested in how photobiological plasticity is related to thermal resistance, growth, and survival. 

It is important for my research to contribute to the conservation of the threatened corals with which I work. I am evaluating multiple strategies to increase coral resilience such as stress hardening and seeding corals with heat-adapted algal symbionts.

 In Dr. Eirin-Lopez's Environmental Epigenetics lab, my dissertation research focused on coral responses to environmental stress. I am particularly interested in coral environmental memory, including the molecular underpinnings and applications to restoration. 

 My research in Bonaire, Dutch Caribbean with Reef Renewal Bonaire explored the retention of phenotypic plasticity and connections with epigenetic modifications in Caribbean Acropora corals.  

 I also spearheaded a collaborative project with the Coral Restoration Foundation exploring coral stress hardening interventions to improve coral restoration success in the Florida Keys.  

As a scientist, I aim to support the conservation of the marine systems I study. I recently evaluated an accessible method of quantifying coral bleaching and have trained restoration practitioners on the protocol.   

While in the Marshall Islands, I assisted in coral reef surveys of remote atolls to support the national conservation plan. I also assisted the local Marine Resource Authority with standardized survey protocols, data management strategies , and data analysis training. 

 The majority of my previous research focused on the Caribbean lionfish invasion. For my undergraduate thesis, I investigated the possibility of biotic resistance against invasive lionfish. For my M.S. research, I quantified the impacts of invasive lionfish on coral reef fish across the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef in Belize.