The Polyp Lab: A lab focused on the ecology and physiological ecology of corals and coral reefs
Research
My lab focuses of the organismic biology of corals as viewed through the lens of long-term ecological change. The backbone of our investigations is provided by decades of monitoring of coral reefs in Moorea, French Polynesia, and St. John, US Virgin Islands. These projects describe patterns of change on coral reefs, and they inform process-oriented investigations to understand the mechanisms driving the changes. We combine pattern- and process-oriented investigations to project how coral reefs might change over years-decades. Increasingly our research is addressing the consequences of global climate change through studies of the thermal biology of corals and the effects of Ocean Acidification.
Outreach
We are committed to the importance of outreach and the unrivaled opportunities of experiential education. We prioritize in-person education, training, and mentoring, and work closely with our partner high schools to advance STEM careers, research opportunities, and understanding of contemporary threats to coral reefs. We use our resources to “put boots on the ground” to get university faculty and students into classrooms where we work with teachers and children to realize meaningful outcomes. Wherever possible, these include taking live animals to schools, and getting children into the marine environment.
Long-term coral reef projects
My lab is committed to long-term research on coral reefs and the maintenance of ecological time series that are placed in the public domain. Our time-series motivate process-oriented investigations that shed light on why coral reefs are changing. The power of ecophysiology is brought to bear in these investigations through hypothesis testing, physiological dependent variables, and tank/mesocosm experiments. My approach to monitoring is described in my recent paper in Bioscience (https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae046).
Current Research Projects
Currently, we have three NSF-funded projects: (1) The Moorea Coral Reef LTER (https://mcr.lternet.edu/) [2005-present] shared with UCSB that describes long-term patterns of change in coral reefs and tests hypotheses addressing processes driving the changes, (2) Long-term changes affecting the shallow coral reefs of St. John [1987-present], and (3) use of AI and robots to study the population biology of rare corals in St. John (shared with Y. Ghirdar at WHOI) [2024-2025].
Current lab members
Dr. Peter Edmunds – Professor and Principal Investigator
Dr. Georgios Tsounis – Lecturer
Lauren Mahoney – MS student working on the ecology of rare corals
Emilia Dell’Antonio — MS student working on facilitation by Millepora fire corals
Caitlyn Pearson — MS student working on species interactions
Adrian Cheh — MS student working on the physiological response of corals to oscillatory temperature
Kathryn Scafidi – NSF-funded technician supporting research in Moorea through the LTER
Interested in becoming a student?
We are always looking to recruit graduate students with a passion for marine science, reef corals, and coral reefs. Successful applicants have a B.S. degree in biology og marine sciences, coursework including marine ecology, invertebrate zoology, and statistics/experimental design, and strong experience with field work; experience on coral reefs is highly desirable. You do not have to be a diver to be a marine biologist, but all of my students dive in support of lab projects and their own research; entry to CSUN as a trained AAUS divers is highly desirable. CSUN offers an M.S. degree in biology (we do not offer a Ph.D.), and opportunities in my lab depend on space and the current state of research funding. Interested students should contact me directly around October (for entry the following August). Please note that my lab does not directly conduct research employing genetic techniques, although we collaborate with people who are highly skilled in this area.