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UTS Future Reefs Lab

@future_reefs_lab

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Future Reefs Team, part of the Climate Change Cluster (C3) at the University of Technology Sydney

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Three weeks on the Great Barrier Reef, wrapped up! 🪸⛵

A whole lot of diving, learning, laughs, brilliant people, and I even got to do a bit of sailing along the way!

It’s been an incredible few weeks with the @coralnurtureprogram and @future_reefs_lab teams, getting stuck into some exciting research across the Reef.

🪸Week 1 - Hastings Reef: Back underwater monitoring experiments for my PhD, exploring how different coral traits could help inform which species we choose to out plant. Lots of photogrammetry, collecting data and learning how we can better track restoration outcomes over time.

🔬Week 2 - Opal Reef:Four packed days helping set up new studies investigating coral traits and heat tolerance. From tagging and phenotyping to heat-stress testing, coral nurseries and 3D reef mapping, there was plenty happening both above and below the water!

🤿 Week 3 - CNP surveys: We jumped back in the water for the programs biannual monitoring, contributing to over eight years of research, collaboration and learning about what works (and what doesn’t!) in coral restoration.

With the warmer months approaching and some concerning El Niño predictions on the horizon, there’s plenty to think about as we continue monitoring how these corals respond.

A HUGE thank you to @pstrud, @reef.wanderer and @taliunderwater, and to the incredible teams at @passionsofparadise, @wavelengthreefcruises, @greatadventurescruises and @sailawayportdouglas, and @liquid_desire. So many brilliant people making this work possible, and such a privilege to be part of it! 🫶

Want to know more about the Coral Nurture Program? Check out @coralnurtureprogram!

#greatbarrierreefqld #CoralNurtureProgram #coralrestorationproject #marinebiologystudents #researchanddevelopment

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Running the MTP (multi-taxa phenotyping system) comes with many roles, so when @pstrud orders a coral uber I had to deliver (literally).

✅Mission 1: Drop off a microcentrifuge tube holder for the collection of small genetic coral samples.

✅Mission 2: Pick up some nursery coral fragments to begin running the MTP.

Just another morning setting up a new experiment out on the Great Barrier Reef!

#greatbarrierreef #coralreefrestoration

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For the second week of September fieldwork, I was lucky enough to be part of setting up a new @coralnurtureprogram study out on Opal Reef in the northern Great Barrier Reef! It was a jam packed four days full of diving, phenotyping and planting coral fragments. Fieldwork is always an amazing learning experience and opportunity and it is a privledge to be apart of these studies! 🪸🤍

A huge shoutout to everyone who made this possible and for all the amazing people we get to meet along the way! 💪🫧

#reefrestoration #greatbarrierreef

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Recapping the first week of fieldwork this September onboard @passionsofparadise conducting monitoring surveys, photogrammetry, replacement of environmental loggers and the collection and preservation of outplanted corals samples for microbial analysis at Hastings Reef. This trip marks the first monitoring since we outplanted these corals back in June this year and they are settling right in! 🪸🫧💙

#coralreefrestoration #greatbarrierreef

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We are sailing home after four days onboard @liquid_desire with @wavelengthreefcruises setting up a new @coralnurtureprogram (@future_reefs_lab ) study tagging, fragging, phenotyping and genotyping four key species.

We ran 50 coral colonies through a rapid heat stress test to get an idea of their potential heat tolerance and attached over 400 coral fragments from these colonies to coral nurseries at two sites on Opal Reef, northern GBR.

We then collected images of the reef area (which we were collecting the corals from) and will construct 3D models (or reef maps 🗺️) from these with the help of the experts at @wildflow.ai .

Yes it’s cold enough for a double hood (23*C and I would have been wearing a dry suit if it wasn’t being repaired 🫠) but we anticipate the summer is going to be quite warm for these corals with the strong El Niño which has set in! It will be a team effort to monitor all the parent colonies and nursery fragments across the two sites to compare bleaching outcomes.

After 12.5hrs underwater in the past 4 days I am ready to dry out in the sun like Pippa in the last slide 🌞

A massive thank you to the awesome @utsscience and @wavelengthreefcruises crew who as always came together to pull off a ridiculous amount of work in a short space of time. Big shoutout to @taliunderwater troubleshooting the heat-stress device on her first time solo at the helm👩🏼‍💻💪 #girlpower

#GenerationRestoration #GreatBarrierReef #CoralResilience

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What’s in a scientific researchers dive bag!?

#coralreefresearch #greatbarrierreef

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Thankfully our camera angles were better than this angle of us.

#diving #research #greatbarrierreefaustralia

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A very belated field catch up from the Whitsundays! It is always a pleasure calling the reef my office (some of the time anyway)🪸🫧🫶

#marinebiology #greatbarrierreef #whitsundays #coralrestoration

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A couple of weeks ago I presented at the NSW Coral Symposium 🪸 a day that brought together talks and roundtable discussions from universities across NSW, government departments and citizen scientists working across these subtropical—temperate ecosystems, from corals to kelp to fish. A big thank you to my supervisor @tinyscientist_ for pulling together such a valuable day, and to @sims_australia_ for facilitating. I’m so grateful for opportunities like these, not just to share my research, but to feel confident contributing to meaningful conversations about the next steps for managing these coral communities as best we can!

*Honorary pufferfish 🐡 pic included*

@future_reefs_lab @beam_uts

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Catching up after a jam packed #NationalScienceWeek Started off the week at Science in the Swamp at Centennial Park speaking to families about all things corals! We even had some Aiptasia (small sea anemones) for the kids (and me) to look at under the microscope!! It was so amazing to share and involve the community in the meaningful research we are able to do! 🪸🌊🔬

Then I headed off to Pymbles Ladies College with Hannah as mentors for their Inspiring Women in Science and Health (I-WiSH) conference. As part of the conference Hannah and I got to share our research, journeys and a challenge for the students. We set the challenge “Make the Invisible, Visible”, aiming to bring to light the conservation and research being conducted on coral reefs and how can we showcase this to young people. We mentored a group of 6 incredible young women and they delivered (including a coral inspired remake of “Espresso”)! The two days spent with these girls was so special and even more exciting they won this years conference with their app - encouraging young people to learn about corals and contribute to citizen science efforts! 🪸🫶👩‍🔬

What a way to spend #NationalScienceWeek !!

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Partnerships are the glue of Coral Nurture Program and here is A/Prof Emma Camp to tell you why!

We know this week is about science, but science is amplified through partnerships and collaboration. The challenges facing our reefs are bigger than any one organisation can tackle alone. By bringing together researchers, Traditional Owners, communities, government, industry and tourism operators, we can share knowledge, learn from each other and turn science into meaningful action for the Great Barrier Reef.

That’s the power of the Coral Nurture Program: working together to give reefs their best chance for the future.

#NationalScienceWeek #GenerationRestoration #StrongerTogether

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Meet Dr Paige Strudwick (@pstrud) who is conducting research that helps us understand which corals are more resilient to heat stress, and how that resilience can be harnessed for reef restoration. This #NationalScienceWeek, we’re celebrating the many facets of Coral Nurture Program research that contributes to our broader goals of helping prepare coral reefs for the future.

#GenerationRestoration

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