FAU Harbor Branch was well-represented at the MarCuba 2018 conference held from October 15-October 19 in Havana, Cuba. Harbor Branch researchers including John Reed and Dr. Joshua Voss, Dr. Shirley Pomponi, Dr. Cris Diaz, Dr. Dennis Hanisak, and graduate student Alexis Sturm, as well as Cuban collaborators including Linnet Busutil, Dorka Cobián, Dr. Beatriz Martínez-Daranas, and Dr. Patricia González all presented their work stemming from the 2017 CIOERT-supported research cruise to study Cuba’s mesophotic coral reefs. The researchers presented on mesophotic reef geomorphology, coral population connectivity, and fish, coral, sponge, and macroalgal biodiversity and community structure. The collaborators also spent time planning for a follow-up research cruise in 2019. A special thanks to all those who coordinated such a successful, international conference! For more information on the USA-Cuba Research Partnership to study Cuba’s mesophotic coral reefs and to see our MarCuba abstracts, please visit this link.
Over ten days Ph.D. student Alexis Sturm participated in the Student Workshop on International Marine and Coastal Management (SWIMM) in northern-central Cuba supported by the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. During the SWIMM workshop she worked with a group of Cuban, Mexican, and American students to develop an Environmental Report Card that evaluates the effects of Hurricane Irma on various socio-ecological systems within Cuba’s Caguanes National Park. Teams of graduate students from these three countries worked with various stakeholders including fishermen, park managers, farmers, and community leaders to develop a series of indicators that evaluate the health of the ecological, geophysical, and socioeconomic systems within the park and surrounding areas. These students also got to have some fun too! They stayed with a community of farmers in Cuba’s first agro-tourism venture, La Picadora, and then traveled to a beach resort in Cayo Santa María to obtain a well-rounded view of how coastal tourism is developing in Cuba. The students then returned to Havana to present their findings at the MarCuba conference. The next year’s SWIMM workshop will be held in Mérida, Mexico. Anybody who is interested or has questions about the application process, please contact Lexie at [email protected]. FAU Harbor Branch was well-represented at the MarCuba 2018 conference held from October 15-October 19 in Havana, Cuba. Harbor Branch researchers including John Reed and Dr. Joshua Voss, Dr. Shirley Pomponi, Dr. Cris Diaz, Dr. Dennis Hanisak, and graduate student Alexis Sturm, as well as Cuban collaborators including Linnet Busutil, Dorka Cobián, Dr. Beatriz Martínez-Daranas, and Dr. Patricia González all presented their work stemming from the 2017 CIOERT-supported research cruise to study Cuba’s mesophotic coral reefs. The researchers presented on mesophotic reef geomorphology, coral population connectivity, and fish, coral, sponge, and macroalgal biodiversity and community structure. The collaborators also spent time planning for a follow-up research cruise in 2019. A special thanks to all those who coordinated such a successful, international conference! For more information on the USA-Cuba Research Partnership to study Cuba’s mesophotic coral reefs and to see our MarCuba abstracts, please visit this link. Comments are closed.
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