Can we save coral reefs from extinction? | Corals: On the Brink

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Coral reefs are truly magnificent ecosystems that support an abundance of marine life. Sadly, #climate change is the biggest threat to coral reefs. As oceans warm, corals experience heat stress and become “bleached” as a result of the algae expelling from their tissues. Can we use modern genetic tools, like #CRISPR -Cas9, as a way to help us understand coral #biology and perhaps make corals more adaptive to climate change?
Speaker Biographies:
Line K Bay, PhD is a biologist with a passion for biodiversity, conservation and coral reefs. She is Team Leader of the Reef Recovery, Adaptation, and Restoration team and a Principal Research Scientist and Sub Program leader of the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP) at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). Her research group uses field and laboratory-based experiments to study how environmental and genetic factors affect the health and stress tolerance of reef-building corals and their symbionts. Line is an enthusiastic science communicator and is particularly interested in the translation of scientific knowledge to natural resource managers, policy makers and the general public. Dr. Bay received a PhD in population genetics from James Cook University (JCU), and did a post-doc with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at AIMS for which she was awarded a Queensland Smart State Fellowship.
Ryan Phelan is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Revive & Restore, with a mission to enhance biodiversity through the genetic rescue of endangered and extinct species. Ryan works with some of the world’s leading molecular biologists, conservation biologists, and conservation organizations to develop pioneering genetic rescue projects using cutting-edge genomic technologies to solve previously intractable wildlife conservation challenges such as those posed by inbreeding, exotic diseases, climate change, and destructive invasive species. She organized a landmark workshop on genetic rescue at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress, and acted as a principal investigator for the 2015 IUCN- and Rockefeller Foundation-sponsored Bellagio Conference on Biodiversity Conservation in the Context of Synthetic Biology.
Credits:
Executive Producers: Elliot Kirschner, Sarah Goodwin
Producers: Regina Sobel, Shannon Behrman
Cinematographers: Jimmy Purtill, Dean Miller, Derek Reich
Editor: Regina Sobel
Interviews: Adam Bolt
Graphics: Chris George, Maggie Hubbard
Music: Marcus Bagala, Keegan DeWitt
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