Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems on the planet and are vital to the coastal communities that depend on them for protection from storms, fisheries, and tourism. However, as ocean temperatures rise, coral bleaching events are becoming more frequent and severe, leaving reefs with less time to recover between them. Guam, in Micronesia, is a clear example of this: its reefs were hit by four bleaching events in just five years (2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017), alongside extreme low tides, causing mass coral mortality. Branching Acropora collapsed at some sites while more tolerant corals such as massive Porites persisted. Despite this, very little is known about how reef communities are changing in the years after these events, and whether they are recovering, shifting towards a new composition, or declining further.

My project aims to investigate the trajectories of benthic communities on Guam’s reefs following successive bleaching events, and to assess whether coral assemblages are being restructured towards more stress-tolerant taxa. By tracking how reef composition has changed over time and across different reef habitats, this research will help predict how reefs may respond to future warming and inform their management.

This project will use long-term benthic monitoring data and community ecology analyses, working with collaborators in Guam to build on existing survey programmes.

Prior to starting this MScRes, I completed my undergraduate degree in Marine Biology and Zoology at Bangor University, where my dissertation investigated the drivers of bycatch survival in marine fisheries. 

• BSc: Marine Biology and Zoology
  2023–2026