Ocean Acidification URE (Keys)
Internship Mentor: Dr. Emily Hall
The Ocean Acidification Research Program at the Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research and Restoration (IC2R3) focuses on characterizing the physiological effects of changing ocean chemistry on marine organisms found within coral reef and coastal ecosystems. While at the IC2R3 located in Summerland Key, Florida, interns will participate in designing, setting up, and maintaining experiments within our state of the art outdoor Climate and Acidification Ocean Simulator (CAOS) water system. Interns will gain experience in coral and marine organism husbandry, in addition to learning techniques for measuring and analyzing seawater carbonate chemistry, water quality, and animal physiology. Research activities will vary depending on parameters of current and future projects, but may concentrate on photosynthetic/respiratory rates, calcification rates, and/or photochemical efficiency. Interns will become familiar with the complex relationships and interactions between ocean pH, temperature, dissolved inorganic carbon, and alkalinity of seawater through collaborative experimentation and scientific literature review/discussion.
