Coral Reef Ecosystem Science

Mission 2 - Barrel Sponge Research
Principal Investigator: Joseph R. Pawlik, Ph.D., UNCW
Dates: 1-10 June 2017

Dr. Pawlick has been monitoring barrel sponges at Conch Reef since 1997. A major finding of this work has shown that although corals have steadily declined, barrel sponges have more than doubled. In June 2017 the group collected sponge tissue samples for genetic microbial analysis, investigated the role of sponges in cycling of carbon and nutrients on coral reefs, and deployed and tested the novel 3-D modeling imagery technique for quantifying the biomass of benthic organisms using GoPro video.

Mission 5 - Impacts of Sharks on Coral Reef Ecosystems
Principal Investigator: Michael Heithaus & Kevin Boswell, FIU
Saturation: September 7-14
Total Days: 8

Download PDF for more on Mission 5

Mission 1 - Mission 31
Principal Investigator: Fabien Cousteau
Saturation: June 1 - July 2
Total Days: 31

Mission 2 - Predation and herbivory in coral reef environments
Principal Investigator: Deron Burkepile, FIU
Saturation: November 19-24
Total Days: 6

Sponges on Florida Coral Reefs: Demographics and Impacts on Water Quality
Principal Investigator: Dr. Joseph Pawlik, UNCW
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Christopher Finelli, UNCW
Training: May 12 - 15
Saturation: May 16 - 25

Celebrating 50 Years of Living Beneath the Sea 
Principal Investigator: Dr. Mark Patterson,
Training: July 9 - 13
Saturation: July 14 - 21

Sponges on Florida Coral Reefs: Demographics and Impacts on Water Quality (2011)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Joseph Pawlik, UNCW
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Christopher Finelli, UNCW
Training: June 6 — 10
Saturation: June 14 — 23

Coral Reef Landscape Responses to Ocean Acidification
Principal Investigator: Marc Slattery, University of Mississippi
Training: July 5 — 8
Saturation: July 12 — 21

Ocean Acidification: Controls on Reef pH
Principal Investigator: Dr. Chris Martens, UNC Chapel Hill
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Niels Lindquist, UNC Chapel Hill
Training: Aug 1 — Aug 5
Saturation: Aug 9 — 18

Manipulating Herbivore Diversity to Restore Coral Reefs
Principal Investigator: Dr. Mark Hay, Georgia Institute of Technology
Training: September 6 — 9
Saturation: September 13 — 22

Aquarius Coral Restoration/Resilience Experiments (ACRRE)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Margaret Miller, NOAA Fisheries
Training: June 7 — 11
Mission: June 15 — 24

Acidification Project
Principal Investigator: Dr. Chris Martens, UNC Chapel Hill
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr.Niels Lindquist, UNC Chapel Hill
Training: July 6 — 9
Mission: July 13 — 22

Sponges on Florida Coral Reefs: Demographics and Impacts on Water Quality (2010)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Joseph Pawlik, UNCW
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Christopher Finelli, UNCW
Training: August 9 — 13
Mission: August 17 — 26

Aquarius 2010: If Reefs Could Talk
Principal Investigator: James Lindholm, NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program
Training: October 4 — 8
Mission: October 12 — 21

Manipulating Herbivore Diversity to Restore Coral Reefs
Principal Investigator: Dr. Mark Hay, Institute of Technology, Georgia
Training: November 1 — 5
Mission: November 9 — 18

Aquarius Coral Restoration / Resilience Experiments (ACRRE)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Margaret Miller, NOAA Fisheries
Training: June 2 — 6
Mission: June 9 — 18

Role of Sponges in Nitrogen Cycling and Total Respiration in Coral-Reef Ecosystems
Principal Investigator: Dr.Niels Lindquist, UNC Chapel Hill
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Chris Martens, UNC Chapel Hill
Training: September 8 — 12
Mission: September 16 — 25

Ocean acidification in the coral reef ecosystem: Measuring pH change from the surface to seafloor
Principal Investigator: Dr. Chris Martens, UNC Chapel Hill
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr.Niels Lindquist, UNC Chapel Hill
Training: October 6 — 10
Mission: October 14 — 23

Mission 6 — If Reefs Could Talk
Principal Investigator: Kate Thompson, National Marine Sanctuary Program
Training: September 10 — 14
Mission: September 17 — 25

Mission 7—Role of Sponges in Nitrogen Cycling and Total Respiration in Coral-Reef Ecosystems
Principal Investigator: Niels Lindquist, UNC Chapel Hill
Training: October 8 — 12
Mission: October 15 — 24

Mission 3 — The role of Hydrodynamics in Determining Nutrient Fluxes to Conch Reef
Principal Investigator: Dr. Stephen Monismith
Training: July 5 — 8, 11
Mission: July 12 — 21

Mission 4 — Sponge production and recycling of new nitrogen in coral reef
Principal Investigator: Dr. Chris Martens, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Mission: August 15 - 24

Mission 6 — Movement Behavior of Fishes: The Role of Scale and No–take Protection in the Conch Reef SPA/RO
Principal Investigator: Dr. James Lindholm, PIER
Training: October 31 — November 4
Mission: November 7 — 18

Mission 2 - A Study of Population Dynamics of Scleractinians on Conch Reef: A Demographic and Population Genetics Approach
Principal Investigator: Mary Alice Coffroth
Saturation: April 15-24, 2002
Total Days: 10

Mission 4 - Global Climate Change & Coral Recruitment: The Interactive Effects of Temperature and Ontogeny on the Biology of Porites Astreoides Larvae
Principal Investigator: Pete Edmunds
Saturation: June 10-19
Total Days: 10

Mission 6 - Reef Fish Census and Tagging Studies Related to Marine Protected Areas in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS)
Principal Investigator: Billy Causey, FKNMS
Saturation: August 19-28
Total Days: 10

Mission 8 - Flow Modulated Metabolism: Connection with Coral Bleaching and Reef Oxygen Crises?
Principal Investigator: Mark Patterson
Saturation: November 11-20
Total Days: 10

Mission 1 - Ecology of Deep-Water Reef Sponges
Principal Investigator: Joe Pawlik, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Saturation: May 21-27
Total Days: 7

Mission 2 - Near-Bottom Nutrient Fluxes on the Florida Keys Reef Tract
Principal Investigator: Jim Leichter
Saturation: June 18-27
Total Days: 10

Mission 3 - Biology of Stomatopod Crustaceans
Principal Investigator: Roy Caldwell
Saturation: July 16-25
Total Days: 10

Mission 4 - Understanding the Physiology and Ecological Impact of the Brown Alga Dictyota on Coral Reefs in the Florida Keys
Principal Investigator: Kevin Beach
Saturation: August13-22
Total Days: 10

Mission 5 - Coral Monitoring and Evaluation of Advanced Diving Techniques to Support National Marine Sanctuary Programs
Principal Investigator: Billy Causey, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Saturation: September 11-19
Total Days: 9

Mission 7 - Understanding Fish Movement and Their Behavior in Marine Protected Areas
Principal Investigator: Greg Stone, New England Aquarium
Saturation: November 12-18
Total Days: 7

Mission 2 - Ecology of deep-water reef sponges
Principal Investigator: Joe Pawlik, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Saturation: May 15-24
Total Days: 10

Mission 3 - Near-Bottom Nutrient Fluxes on the Florida Keys Reef Tract
Principal Investigator: Jim Leichter
Saturation: June 12-21
Total Days: 10

Mission 4 - Effects of Water Flow and Prey Behavior on Coral Feeding
Principal Investigator: Ken Sebens
Saturation: July 10-19
Total Days: 10

Mission 5 - Rapid Response Projects in the South Atlantic Bight, Gulf of Mexico and Florida Keys
Principal Investigators: Steve Gittings & Steven Miller
Saturation: August 14-23
Total Days: 10

Mission 6 - Physiological Ecology, Growth and Reproductive Biology of Halimeda Across a Gradient Depth
Principal Investigator: Celia Smith
Saturation: September 11-20
Total Days: 10

Mission 8 - Multiscale Measurements of Hydrodynamics and Nutrient Transfer Over Coral Reefs
Principal Investigator: Chris Finelli
Saturation: November 6-15
Total Days: 10

Mission 1 - Mass Transfer in Corals: Effects of Turbulent Flow
Principal Investigator: Dave Wethey
Saturation: June 14-23
Total Days: 10

Mission 3 - Light on and Above Coral Reefs Imaging, Signaling, and Effects of Stress
Principal Investigator: Tom Cronin
Saturation: August 9-18
Total Days: 10

Mission 4 - Habitat Specific Differences in Sponge Growth: The Role of Scope for Growth and Phenotypic Plasticity
Principal Investigator: Mark Patterson
Saturation: October 11-14
Total Days: 4

Mission 5 - Physiological Ecology, Growth and Reproductive Biology of Halimeda Across a Depth Gradient
Principal Investigator: Celia Smith
Saturation: November 8-17
Total Days: 10

Mission 2 - Deep-Water Coral Reef Monitoring at Conch Reef
Principal Investigator: Steve Gittings
Saturation: August 4-10
Total Days: 7

Mission 3 - Carbon Budgets, Growth and Sexual Reproduction by Halimeda Across a Depth Gradient
Principal Investigator: Celia Smith
Saturation: August 25-28
Total Days: 4

Mission 2 - Comparative Taphonomy of Life, Death and Fossil Caribbean Coral Assemblages, Key Largo, Florida
Principal Investigator: Been Greenstein
Saturation: May 20-29
Total Days: 10

Mission 1 - The Effects of Sponges on Water Column Process: Implications for the Management of Coral Reefs
Principal Investigator: Mark Patterson
Saturation: May 25-31
Total Days: 7

Mission 2 - The Photic Ecology of Coral Reef Environments and the Impact of Human Activity Upon It.
Principal Investigator: Tom Cronin
Saturation: June 19-28
Total Days: 10

Mission 3 - Spatial Heterogeneity and Coral Recruitment: Ecological Implications and Physiological Adaptations
Principal Investigator: Pete Edmunds
Saturation: July 18-26
Total Days: 9

Mission 4 - Spatial and Temporal Variability in On-Shore Flux: Pulsed Delivery of Nutrients, Plankton and Larvae to Conch Reef by Internal Waves
Principal Investigator: Mark Denny
Saturation: August 15-23
Total Days: 9

Mission 5 - Suboxic/Anoxic Diagenesis in Reef Frameworks and Resulting Nutrient Fluxes
Principal Investigator: Frank Sansone
Saturation: November 11-17
Total Days: 7

Mission 1 - Environmental/Biological Correlates of Differential Susceptibility to Annual Bleaching with Porites astroides
Principal Investigators: Jaap / Steven Miller
Saturation: April 19-28
Total Days: 10

Mission 2 - Comparative Taphonomy of Life, Death and Fossil Caribbean Coral Assemblages, Key Largo, Florida
Principal Investigator: Ben Greenstein
Saturation: May 19-28
Total Days: 10

Mission 3 - Effects of Flow Velocity, Zooplankton Abundance, and Piscivory on the Feeding Rates of Planktivorous Fish
Principal Investigator: Laurie Sanderson
Saturation: June 18-27
Total Days: 10

Mission 4 - Survivorship and Chemical Defenses in Larvae and Juvenile Sponges: Effects of Fishes and Mesopredators
Principal Investigator: Niels Lindquist / Joe Pawlik, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Saturation: July 23-August 1
Total Days: 10

Depth Dependent Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation on the Productivity and Action Spectra of the Hermatypic Coral, Montastrea annularis
Principal Investigator: Mike Lesser
Saturation: August 19-28
Total Days: 10

Effects of Water Movements on Corals: Particle Capture, Prey Behavior, and Growth Rate
Principal Investigator: Ken Sebens
Saturation: September 17-26
Total Days: 10

The Ecological Significance of Vegetative Fragmentation by 'Halimeda': Mechanisms Along a Depth Gradient
Principal Investigator: Celia Smith
Saturation: October 16-25
Total Days: 10

Effects of Internal Waves at Conch Reef: Pulsed Temperature and Nutrient Variability, and Metabolic Response in a Hermatypic Coral
Principal Investigator: Denny
Saturation: November 12-15
Total Days: 4

Mission 2 - Effects of Water Movements on Corals: Particle Capture, Prey Behavior, and Growth Rate
Principal Investigator: Ken Sebens
Saturation: September 20-29
Total Days: 10

Mission 3 - Dynamics of Fertilization in Tropical Reef Fishes
Principal Investigator: Chris Peterson
Saturation: October 13-22
Total Days: 10

Mission 4 - Patterns of Coral Recruitment and Juvenile Mortality with Depth on Conch Reef/Geological and Groundwater Monitoring Studies
Principal Investigator: Robbie Smith / Gene Shinn
Saturation: November 3-7
Total Days: 5

Mission 5 - Effects of Internal Waves at Conch Reef on Temperature and Nutrient Variability in Several Reef Micro Habitats
Principal Investigator: Denny
Saturation: November 17-22
Total Days: 5