Currently doing my Master of Science degree at The University of Queensland. I am planning to graduated in July 2008 and to pursue a career in environmental consulting in the Brisbane or Queensland area.
I graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. I enjoy playing soccer, basketball, and scuba diving. I grew up in San Francisco, California and currently reside in Saint Lucia (Brisbane), QLD, Australia for almost two years. Currently part of UniDive Club at UQ and looking forward to volunteering with the club on Mantra Ray habitat survey project around Moreton Bay, QLD.
The Bleaching Effect on Reproduction and Lipid Stores in Scleractinian Coral on the Great Barrier Reef
The Bleaching Effect on Reproduction and Lipid Stores in Scleractinian Coral on the Great Barrier Reef
Supervisor: Dr. Selina Ward; Dr. David Kline. Dr. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
Keywords: coral bleaching, coral lipids, coral energetics, reproduction, sceleractian coral, broaders, spawners, Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef
This study's three main questions are
1. Does bleaching reduce coral reproduction and lipids contents?
2. How does coral's energetic change over an annual season?
3. Does lipid content and the effects of bleaching vary between species? Is there intra-specific variation?
ABSTRACT - Submitted and Accepted for ICRS 2008
This study investigated if bleaching reduced lipid and whether susceptibility to bleaching varies between coral species. We examined lipid content in eight different scleractinian corals that were both bleached and unbleached over nine month period during and after the January 2006 bleaching event. This also provided a better understanding of the seasonal change in lipid content over a year and the effect of bleaching over a year long period
Minor Research Project - Topic: Current review on Remote Sensing and Predicting Bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef.
We will be examining several research groups’ publications and their methodology in predicting coral bleaching on a spatial and local scale. This review will examine the benefits and limitation of using satellite imagery, specifically looking at NOAA Coral Reef Watch program and AIMS/GBRMP/Reef Temps bleaching program, Scarla Weeks MODIS Ocean Colour and SST research. Second section, will apply bleaching prediction algorithms to in situ data collected on Heron Island during bleaching 1998, 2002, 2006. Then a comparison between these results and current government bleaching predictions was be shown.
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Other question that will be answered:
1. Is the 1998 and 2002 bleaching event more severe than the 2006 bleaching event?
2. What are major factor that contributed to the difference in bleaching events? (ie. Cloud cover, PAR, SST, tides, time of day)
Professional Associations:
ACRS, Australia Coral Reef Society
ICRS, International Coral Reef Soceity
Research Collaborators:
WARD Selina - Coral Reef Ecology and Physiology
KLINE David
PHINN, Stuart
