The Coral Reef Ecology course has been taking place at BIOS
for almost 25 years now, with this year‘s course being one of the most diverse
groups we have had the pleasure of hosting. Twenty-two students from nine
different countries: Brazil, Cuba, Canada, United States, Italy, Germany, Japan, the UK and Bermuda! The students varied in science experience ranging from
undergraduates in their third year all the way to second year PhD students.
The main goal of the course was to allow students to explore
the responses of coral reefs to the changing environmental conditions
associated with projected global climate change scenarios. We walked the
students through multiple scenarios using both lab and field based studies. We
saw one of the more heavy wind and rain seasons for Bermuda this August, so when
the weather cooperated the students were eager to dive right in (literally).
Science diving was involved in every dive whether it was transects quantifying
coral disease, a night dive to witness coral spawn, or a deep dive in search of
the invasive lionfish for our dinner!
It was a pleasure assisting with the course as a teaching
assistant and I am going to really miss this group. Thanks for the fun times
guys!!
Sean
