Reefs keep you and the people/places you care about safe. They also provide you and many others globally with food and money. Reefs are vital for life on this planet. Losing them would be a serious blow to global health and economics. Protecting them on a global scale is hard, but you can do your part with small lifestyle changes (eat sustainable seafood, lower your carbon footprint, and ditch single use items for reusable alternatives. Continue reading
Over the winter break I interviewed Chris Anderson of Science Over Everything about how science researchers can be better science educators. Outside of his scicomm blog, Chris is a consultant with the Hamilton County Educational Service Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. He primarily works as an instructional coach to educators and curriculum managers to help them build science … Continue reading
If you’ve been reading UNdertheC for while, then you know that I study coral reefs (specifically those in the Caribbean). If this is your first time here, welcome! Tell your friends 🙂 As the 4th year of my PhD dawns here at UNC, the first chapter of my dissertation work has finally been published in … Continue reading
Coral reefs are some of the most diverse and important ecosystems on earth. If you didn’t know that already you probably wouldn’t be here. For background on see these links (1, 2, 3). Also, reefs are beautiful and really cool (see below). However, corals are very sensitive to changes in their environment. They are especially … Continue reading
This guest post was written by Rachel Wimmer. Rachel is a senior at the College of William & Mary studying biology and marine science. She works in the Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) Lab at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science studying seagrass ecology under Jon Lefcheck. She also serves as an EcoAmbassador for W&M’s Committee … Continue reading
Want to read what we think about the accord? Scroll to the bottom of this post to see our responses! In December 2015, representatives from almost 200 UN countries met in Paris for COP21 to discuss climate and the future of our planet. The group deliberated for almost 2 weeks before finally drafting an accord … Continue reading
This article is a guest post by ODU undergradaute Ben Maxie. Ben works in the Barshis Lab and studies the evolution of stress tolerance in corals and other organisms. The 2010 BP Deep-water Horizon oil spill was an environmental tragedy of immense magnitude. Five million barrels of toxic crude oil were leeched into the … Continue reading
3….2….1….HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Fine, so maybe I’m a little early here on the US east coast, but in a mere number of hours millions of people will be ringing in 2016 with that very mantra. And in the midst of falling confetti, popping champagne (or sparkling grape juice), and renditions of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ people … Continue reading
This guest post was written by Ben Maxie. Ben is an undergraduate researcher at Old Dominion University who studies zooxanthellae genetics with Dan Barshis. Aside from marine biology, he is interested in beer brewing, car modification, and hiking. In a small refuge in the Elizabeth River near the Chesapeake Bay, my colleagues and I trudged … Continue reading
Can corals survive climate change? This is a question on the minds of many environmentalists and researchers these days. The short answer is: probably, but coral reefs as we know them likely cannot. Every coral may not go extinct, but reefs are degrading and will continue to do so if the status quo is not … Continue reading
UNder the C 