What got you interested in Coral Reefs/Marine Biology?
I’ve always been interested in Systems Biology, specifically using that style of thinking with biological questions. I started learning about different issues while researching and became more interested in using my own tools to address the complexity of these biological systems. When I got to ISB, there was a project on ocean acidification diatoms that piqued my interest as I kind of had a background in microbial physiology. I was able to bring my knowledge from grad school to the marine science field and developed it over time. As my research became better known, a bigger community became involved and contributed their knowledge. That’s part of the reason why I like Systems Biology, because it's such a broad area of research.
Were you interested in Microbial Biology in High School?
Haha not really! My school didn’t have many of those classes so my chances to explore that field were pretty limited at that time. So I had no idea what I wanted to do in high school, which was a good thing for me. I went into college as undeclared which allowed me to figure out what I liked, what I was good at, and somehow combine the two! I’ve always been interested in biology and understanding how crazy our world is; so when I took biology classes in college, it truly caught my interest. All the concepts just clicked for me so I started going deeper down that road and eventually, I came across systems biology which is what led me here.
Could you give us a summary of your research? What are the most important take-aways?
Currently, one of my biggest projects is researching how coral reefs respond to heatwaves. Once every year, we have ocean heat waves causing bleaching events across the world. Coral reefs can’t adapt to this new stress so once they die out, they’re not coming back. So, we’re researching how different corals all over the world respond to stress (heat waves) to see if there’s any similarities in how they handle it. We specifically use a mechanism called the CBASS to do this. Eventually, we hope to use these strategies to help other corals and ensure that more of them survive these bleaching events.
Exactly what is the CBASS mechanism?
CBASS is a way of re-creating the environment of the coral as closely as possible through light and temperature controlled units. This allows us to test and probe the response of the coral to high temperatures. So we collect multiple pieces of coral, place them in the units and manipulate the temperature, light etc to figure out how they handle these changing conditions. We specifically look for changes in their gene expression/transcriptome to look at the coral system as a whole. There’s a certain gene called Metalloproteinase that always responds to something and we think it has to do with coral recovery and maintenance of their skeleton.
Do you think we should be pessimistic about global warming, seeing as most climate researchers are spreading that message?
Absolutely not! We have so many things that we’re doing to help! How many windmills are out there? How many Teslas do you see? You can easily google ways to be friendly to the environment and bring that into your everyday life. Our planet is pretty resilient. I know that word is thrown around a lot but our planet’s gonna be fine! Rather than trying to scare everybody into taking action, we should educate people about the real impacts of global warming and encourage them to think critically! Try and help out, however you can! Teach someone about global warming, and don’t litter! Research itself is a way of finding out what we can do to help.
How would you make people more engaged in Coral Bleaching?
Firstly, why don’t we define the problem? In Seattle, how do the coral reefs affect us? Not directly, because we don’t really have them here. So, you gotta do your best to show everyone how the health of the reefs is connected to their lives and local environment. If we don’t have coral reefs, we have lesser ocean biodiversity. If we have no ocean biodiversity, food chains topple, causing fisheries to become unstable. If fisheries become unsustainable, you lose a lot of jobs, money, and a source of food!
Do you have any tips for specifically getting younger kids involved?
I think it's really important to show them how cool coral reefs are, maybe through aquariums? Analogies are also really helpful with explaining things to them. For example, I like the forest fire analogy. Like how the redwoods and Yosemite are being wiped out, coral reefs are also being destroyed.
Are there any memorable lessons you’ve learned in all your years of research?
I think it’s to remain hopeful. When you look at all these problems, you wonder how recycling this paper cup even helps? At times like these, it's important to remember the progress we’ve made. Like the windmills in Eastern Washington, all the solar panels on the rooftop these days, or all the Teslas driving around. As you can see, we have made some progress and we just have to keep at it. Another lesson would be trusting my team members on a project. A lot of people try to do everything by themselves and end up dragging the whole team down. So it's important to be able to rely on your team if you need something and count on their expertise!