Coral restoration has exploded in popularity over the last ten years. There are now over 150 different coral restoration efforts growing and outplanting coral to restore degraded coral reefs in the Caribbean alone. Unfortunately, coral restoration can be expensive. Most of the regions that rely on their coral reefs for the many beneficial services they provide do not have the resources to undertake such a monumental task. Therefore, my primary research is focused on developing low-tech, scalable solutions that do not require expensive tools or access to a state-of-the-art laboratory.


Water tables

In a water-table nursery, Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata) are fragmented into small pieces and grown in a safe environment until they are ready to outplant back on the reef. While this method has had lots of success, the costs of operating a water-table nursery are incredibly high.

vs.


At the University of the Virgin Islands, I’m searching for coral restoration techniques that can be utilized in regions that don’t have the resources for large-scale coral nurseries.

I’m comparing growth and survival between corals grown in a water table nursery (expensive but effective) and direct outplanting (inexpensive but success is unknown) through two separate studies.

Direct Outplanting

Direct outplanting involves fragmenting small pieces from a wild coral colony and immediately outplanting them back on the reef. If successful, this technique can drastically cut costs by bypassing the nursery phase.

 
 

Coral science in the u.s. virgin islands


VI Reef Response

Virgin Islands Reef Response is the U.S. Virgin Islands leading coral restoration organization. Currently, we're working on numerous projects outplanting coral, building and maintaining in-water and land-based nurseries, partnering with dive shops, and creating ecotourism attractions.

 

coral monitoring

Through the University of the Virgin Islands, I have worked on many different research projects such as the Territorial, National, and Deep Coral Reef Monitoring Programs. This data helps researchers to better understand the condition over time of U.S. Virgin Islands coral reefs.