DNA reveals the past and future of coral reefs
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
From 2005 to 2022, the main node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies was headquartered at James Cook University in Townsville, Queensland (Australia)
Abstract: Imagine if your first date involved swimming 100s of kms, with no breaks for food. En route, you have to maneuver around fishing hooks and nets but are unable to escape the industrial, agricultural and urban run-off. The water is uncomfortably warm at times and, oh, there are seals and grizzly bears trying to eat you. I’m stressed thinking about this, are you?! This is what first dates are like for Pacific salmon migrating from the ocean to the rivers where they were born. When they meet their date, it’s love at first sight, and they spawn. The first date is also the last; salmon die after they spawn. Everything offspring need to survive is in a mother’s egg. But what if the stressful first-date journey changed what went into the eggs? Will offspring be equipped to survive? Natalie will talk about the intergenerational effects of stress in Pacific salmon and the role that egg hormones play in shaping offspring.
Natalie Sopinka first got hooked on fish during her undergraduate and MSc degrees at McMaster University, Canada. She studied the behaviour of invasive round goby and the sperm quality of plainfin midshipman living in polluted bodies of water. Natalie then headed west to the University of British Columbia where she earned her PhD studying what happens to sockeye salmon babies when their mom is stressed out. While she embarks on new fishy adventures, you can find her on Twitter at @phishdoc and her poems at www.phishdoc.com
New DNA techniques are being used to understand how coral reacted to the end of the last ice age in order to better predict how they will cope with current changes to the climate. James Cook Univer
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Researchers working with stakeholders in the Great Barrier Reef region have come up with ideas on how groups responsible for looking after the reef can operate more effectively when the next bleaching
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Abstract: The past few years have seen unprecedented coral bleaching and mortality on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) but the consequences of this on biodiversity are not yet known. This talk will expl