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Are Reefs Resilient?

Hannah Barkley, a recent graduate of the MIT-WHOI Joint Program, presents her thesis research on coral reef health in the Rock Islands of Palau. Since 2011, Barkley has worked with WHOI geophysicist Anne Cohen to study how warm water temperatures and ocean acidification affect reef wellbeing. Globally, reefs are home to about 25 percent of marine species and also play an important economic role in regions like Palau. Barkley tracked bleaching levels and collected ecological data to determine which reefs are most resilient to the effects of climate change and should therefore be incorporated into Palau’s protected areas network. (Photo by Jayne Doucette, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)