My Current Project
Using photographic assessments on two facultatively symbiotic corals (Astrangia poculata and Oculina arbuscula) to rapidly assess algal symbiont densities.
In my time as an undergraduate researcher at the Davies Marine Population Genomics Laboratory, I am currently working ground-truthing symbiont pigment densities using non-invasive photographic methods in the facultatively symbiotic corals, Astrangia poculata and Oculina arbuscula. Which will then be correlated with the mapped reads from RNAseq data to build a framework for correlating coral color symbiotic status and would provide a non-invasive way to determine the symbiotic state of a coral for future monitoring.
This will then be correlated with the mapped reads from RNAseq data to build a framework for correlating coral color symbiotic status and would provide a non-invasive way to determine the symbiotic state of a coral for future monitoring as climate change affects the ability of the coral symbiont relationship to survive.
My Previous Projects
Total Herbivory Preferences on Different Macroalgae Functional Groups within Coral Reef Ecosystems
During my time at the University of Queensland, Australia I had the opportunity of going to Heron Island on a 9-day field research project for a course called Tropical Marine Ecosystem; headed by Dr. Sophie Dove. During our time there, I was part of a group that was trying to investigate the total herbivory preferences on calcareous (Halimeda spp), filamentous (Laurencia spp), and corticated folios (Padina spp). within coral reef ecosystems. Although it should not at all be considered for anything but simply curiosity, it was the first scientific paper I wrote, giving me insight on how to think like a scientist and what I could expect in the future. Below is a link to the final paper submitted.
