Congratulations to Olivia Faris for proposing her thesis and winning the preliminary round of the 3 Minute Thesis competition!

This spring, Olivia successfully passed her thesis proposal seminar and paper. Her research focuses on understanding the impacts of multiple environmental stressors on coral reefs, specifically focusing on future ocean conditions. She will be studying how thermal stress and disease impact Montastraea cavernosa, commonly known as the Great Star Coral, in Southeast Florida. She will determine the bleaching threshold for this species, as well as monitor coral fragments’ responses to simultaneous thermal stress and stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD). She is excited to begin her experiments this summer. Her work will provide management recommendations to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). This research will also provide thermal tolerance data for boulder corals in this region, which has not yet been described.

Olivia also participated in the Florida Atlantic University 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) competition this spring, taking first place in her heat in the preliminary round. 3MT was started at the University of Queensland in 2008, when a drought caused Australian citizens to take 3 minute showers. The competition focuses on presenting one’s 20,000 word thesis in just 3 minutes or less. Participants must use language that a general audience can understand, hitting on the researcher’s methods, results, and broader significance. Olivia presented her proposed thesis research studying coral responses to thermal stress and disease. She was awarded the $1000 scholarship prize. Olivia is excited to continue her research and pursue more opportunities present her findings in the future!