The Living Ocean Foundation's Global Reef Expedition

From 2013 to 2015, I was fortunate enough to have traversed a good portion of the Pacific and Indian Oceans as a fellow with the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation.

My goal on these research expeditions was to sample the model coral for research Pocillopora damicornis/acuta at a variety of environmental conditions and health states (i.e., healthy, bleached, diseased) in order to gain insight into the environmental physiology of this species. In the process, I have been designing a molecular biomarker-based diagnostics test for assessment of coral health. I currently have a plethora of samples and am actively looking for collaborators! For a list of all samples available for sharing, please click here (more detailed) or here (less detailed). I have included a table below that shows where I am in the sample and data processing. Otherwise, here is a list of the locations I visited with LOF (linked to the pages where you can find more information):

1. French Polynesia (Austral Islands)                  

2. Cook Islands

3. Fiji

4. Tonga

5. New Caledonia

6. Great Barrier Reef (northern, Coral Sea         section)

7. Solomon Islands

8. Palau

9. Chagos

For beautiful, detailed habitat maps of all reefs surveyed as part of the GRE (barring Palau and Chagos as of May 2019), please go here. The associated manuscript can be downloaded here.