We’re learning about ocean acidification, and ‘SOCAN’ you!
Photo: Dr. Emily Hall leads the Ocean Acidification Program and Chemical & Physical Ecology Program at Mote Marine Laboratory.
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Today we welcome back our favorite “ocean chemistry nut,” Dr. Emily Hall, manager of Mote’s Ocean Acidification Research Program and Chemical & Physical Ecology Program. Dr. Hall and her colleagues have been scoping out the challenges of acidification—water chemistry changes partly driven by humans—across ocean environments of the U.S. southeast. Acidification is a concern for shellfish, crabs, corals and other marine species populations that support livelihoods. Dr. Hall updates hosts Hayley and Joe on the possible—and sometimes bizarre—impacts of acidification, and how we can help deal with them. That’s the topic of a new research synthesis that she and her partners authored on behalf of the Southeast Ocean & Coastal Acidification Network (SOCAN).
Before diving into acidification in the southeast, Dr. Hall shares the latest on another project making international headlines: Exploring the chemically unique “blue holes” in the Gulf of Mexico together with Mote’s Jim Culter and multiple partners who are curious about these deep, naturally acidified environments.