May 9, 2020 | COTS, Grants, Research
Newly settled crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster cf. solaris, aka CoTS) have rarely been studied in the field. This knowledge gap in our understanding of CoTS population and outbreak dynamics has been my research focus for the past several years. My interest... 
May 7, 2020 | LIRS Reports
The Lizard Island Research Station’s 2019 Report is available here. It includes 2019 in review by resident Directors Lyle Vail & Anne Hoggett; Visitors in 2019: details of the 106 visiting researchers and their projects; Publications: Titles and citations for... 
May 5, 2020 | Bleaching, Global change, Observation
In early 2020, the Great Barrier Reef suffered its third major coral bleaching event in five years due to heat stress. At Lizard Island, bleaching first became noticeable in mid-February. February is normally “wet season”, with clouds and rain that keep the sea... 
May 4, 2020 | COTS, Grants, Research
Early detection of population outbreaks in Crown of Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster solaris cf, aka CoTS) is a necessary precursor to containment. Excellent progress has been made over the past few years, especially in the deployment of DNA technology. The five research... 
Apr 15, 2020 | Fellowships, Plastic pollution, Research
Marine life is detrimentally affected by human pollution; including by plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions that cause ocean warming. Thanks to a LIRRF Fellowship grant, I was recently able to undertake further research on these effects, yielding additional...