… Help marine biologists examine coral reef extinction risk
OXFORD, Miss. – After spending part of their summer exploring coral reefs in the Bahamas, several University of Mississippi students are contemplating new career choices.
Researchers from UM and the University of Alabama led the students on a underwater study in a protected marine reserve off Lee Stocking Island, part of the Great Exuma chain of the Bahama Islands. Funded by the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology, part of NOAA’S Office of Ocean Exploration and Research at Ole Miss, the aim was to motivate a new generation to explore the continued survival of coral reefs.
“This was a great opportunity to give our students an introduction to the tropics, something they would probably not be able to do otherwise,” said NIUST executive director Ray Highsmith. “I was lucky as an undergraduate to be taken to a wonderful tropical coral reef as a research assistant, and it changed my life. I’ll be surprised if that doesn’t happen to some of these students.”
That seems to be the case for Sly Lee, a 21-year-old UM environmental toxicology graduate student from Oxford.
“The class in the Bahamas made me realize that coral reefs are completely doomed if we continue our current path and lifestyles as inhabitants on this planet,” Lee said. “I also discovered that I want to study these marine ecosystems and maybe even discover new compounds. Plus, ‘I travel the world scuba diving’ has a nice ring to it.”
One of the most diverse, richest ecosystems on the planet, coral reefs are threatened by pollution, climate change and human activities. The risks of coral reef extinction are so real that marine biologists worldwide are frantically studying the problem.
Scientists from UM and UA are trying to better understand coral disease and ocean acidification in the reef near Lee Stocking Island. With a fish-eye view of the crystal clear turquoise waters, the team observes one of nature’s most fragile, yet bountiful tropical marine ecosystems.
“Coral reefs help provide food, medications along with other goods and services to hundreds of millions of people worldwide, yet they are disappearing at alarming rates,” said UM pharmacognosy professor Marc Slattery, an expert on briny invertebrates and algae. “The Caribbean is a biodiversity hot spot, and without study they too may be lost to future generations.”
This summer, the team examined reefs submerged 200 to 300 feet below the surface, depths overlooked by prior surveys, said Slattery, director of NIUST’s Ocean Biotechnology Center and Repository. Slattery hopes to discover new pharmaceutical compounds from coral reef organisms.
Lee and other students also got their feet wet as Slattery and colleagues led a related two-week graduate course, “Coral Reef Stressors: Adaptation in Tropical Marine Ecosystems,” at the nearby Perry Institute for Marine Sciences. Students described their maritime encounters with multicolored fish, corals, sponges and sea fans as life-changing.
“The course was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Mallory Johnson, a 21-year-old first-year UM pharmacy student from Brookhaven. “I was able to visualize, firsthand, the process of developing potential pharmaceuticals from the marine environment.”
In addition to scuba diving and snorkeling up to three hours for daily afternoon fieldwork, the typical day onshore included morning laboratory experiments and nightcap lectures. The course will be offered again next summer, and Johnson encourages her peers to consider taking the class.
Other researchers working with Slattery on the project include UM’s Deborah Gochfeld, an expert on corals and fish from the National Center for Natural Product Research, and UA’s Julie Olson, a microbial ecologist with expertise in biological oceanography. The team brought home plenty of samples of the coral and other sea life, and Slattery said they will be busy for months examining them for signs of changes in the reef’s health.
For more information about NIUST, visit http://niust.org.