Marine Plant Life’s Response to Environmental Issues

Mara Coughlin

My research topic is in the field of marine biology. My project is focused on marine plant life’s reaction to the global issues our oceans are facing. Plant life in marine settings are impacted by a plethora of environmental issues, including global warming, rising sea levels, rising sea temperature, rising sea salinity, pollution, microplastics, and harmful human interaction. Understanding this reaction is important because plant life is a major part of the marine ecosystem and other organisms are affected by plant life. This research is important because once we know how plant life is responding to changes in the ocean, we can make informed decisions on how to solve this problem. Seeing how plant life responds to the environmental issues will allow better understanding of how to combat said issues. I plan to complete Ingenuity Research Practicum and want to study marine biology and specifically, aquatic vegetation and restoration work.