​A delegation from FAU Harbor Branch including Drs. Joshua Voss, M. Cristina Diaz, Michael Studivan, and recent hire Dr. Andia Chaves-Fonnegra recently attended the Functional Roles of Mesophotic Coral Reefs in the Anthropocene Gordon Research Conference (GRC) held June 17-22 at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Found at depths of 30–150 m in tropical and subtropical oceans, mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs) are “middle light” ecosystems that harbor extensive and diverse biological communities, including many important commercial fish species. However, globally mesophotic reefs are relatively understudied compared to shallow coral reefs, and only recently has the ecological importance of MCEs become a research priority.  
 
At the inaugural mesophotic coral reefs GRC, Dr. Voss was one of three invited speaker in the Genetic Connectivity Among Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems session and presented NOAA CIOERT funded research regarding mesophotic coral connectivity in the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, Belize, and Cuba.  Drs. Diaz, Chaves-Fonnegra, and Studivan presented posters regarding mesophotic sponges, disease dynamics, and coral gene expression, respectively. Dr. Studivan, in presenting a portion of his dissertation research, was honored with the “Best Graduate Student Poster” award.  
 
Gordon Research Conferences are prestigious international scientific conferences that promote the presentation and discussion of new, unpublished research at the frontiers of science. By limiting conference attendance, GRCs encourage the free exchange of ideas while fostering communication and collaboration among both prominent and developing researchers in targeted scientific fields.

Harbor Branch researchers have recently published three studies focused on coral reef ecology, connectivity, and conservation in the Northwest Gulf of Mexico (NWGOM). Two sister manuscripts from the laboratories of Dr. Joshua Voss and Dr. Laurent Chérubin, led by recent FAU graduate Dr. Michael Studivan and former HBOI postdoc Dr. Lysel Garavelli, examined the connectivity of mesophotic coral ecosystems with complementary molecular biology and oceanographic modeling approaches to inform a proposed expansion of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. Additionally, FAU master’s program graduate Jennifer Polinski and Dr. Voss have characterized the corals’ algal symbiont communities and demonstrated a potentially novel mechanism for photoadaptation in mesophotic corals of the NWGOM. The three manuscripts are products of the NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research, and Technology (CIOERT) headquartered at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. 

Studivan MS, Voss JD (2018) Assessment of mesophotic coral ecosystem connectivity for proposed expansion of a marine sanctuary in the northwest Gulf of Mexico: population genetics. Frontiers in Marine Science 5:152 doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00152
 
Garavelli L, Studivan MS, Voss JD, Kuba A, Figueiredo J, Chérubin L (2018) Assessment of mesophotic coral ecosystem connectivity for proposed expansion of a marine sanctuary in the northwest Gulf of Mexico: larval dynamics. Frontiers in Marine Science 5:174 doi:10.3389/fmars.2018.00174

Polinski JM, Voss JD (2018) Evidence of photoacclimatization at mesophotic depths in the coral-Symbiodinium symbiosis at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and McGrail Bank. Coral Reefs doi:10.1007/s00338-018-1701-2
 
FGBNMS Superintendent G.P. Schmahl recently commented “FGBNMS is undergoing a process to consider a significant expansion to include additional reefs and banks in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Josh immediately recognized the importance of this effort and tailored aspects of his research to provide essential and timely scientific data to inform this process. This is most clearly exemplified by recent publications from his team (e.g. Studivan and Voss 2018, Garaveli et al. 2018). Such direct reference to a management consideration in a scientific article is significant…. We look forward to a continuing collaboration with Dr. Voss’s team and appreciate the support of CIOERT, HBOI, and Florida Atlantic University.”

Over the past week Ph.D. student Alexis Sturm participated in the Methods in Ecological Genomic Analysis workshop led by Dr. Misha Matz (UT-Austin) and hosted by Mote's Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research & Restoration in Summerland Key, Florida. The workshop focused on the generation of population genomic data using a 2bRAD pipeline and ANGSD probabilistic data analysis of nucleotide variation. Between lectures, lab work, and coding sessions Lexie was able to hear about the varied research backgrounds of the other workshop attendees and she even caught a few sunsets from the Mote kayaks!  Lexie is excited to incorporate the lab and bioinformatics techniques she has learned from the workshop into her graduate research which focuses on mesophotic coral ecology and population connectivity of coral communities in Cuba.