Course Description:
The aim of this course is to study the biology and ecology of tropical corals and explore their response to environmental changes including those from projected global climate scenarios. This course covers the biological, physical, biogeochemical and evolutionary processes that determine reef growth, function and resilience, ranging from the organism to whole reef tracts. Topics include the processes of metabolism and calcification at the cellular, organismal, and community scale; determinants of community structure, examining trophic dynamics and species interactions; and reef resilience and acclimatization to environmental change, emphasizing processes of reproduction, recruitment, symbiosis, genetics and epigenetics. Lectures will be complemented with field and laboratory exercises. Students will gain experience in coral reef research methods and monitoring of reef health, including benthic surveys, water quality analysis, assessing recruitment recovery, monitoring bleaching, disease, reef fish ecology and invasive species. Laboratory experiments will focus on coral physiology, including symbiosis, growth, reproduction, larval settlement, larval cellular stress response, analysis of next generation coral transcriptomic data and symbiont genetic data.The Coral Reef Ecology course at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences is an intensive, integrated program comprised of lectures, laboratory exercises, field (SCUBA) surveys and readings from the primary literature with attention given to active areas of research. The course culminates with a morning of oral presentations where the students present their analysis and research on the data sets collected during the field and lab work.This course is geared to upper level undergraduates, graduate students and professionals. Prerequisites include satisfactory standing in university-level biology and ecology, and SCUBA certification. Course fee: $4,900 (includes tuition, room and board). Students can apply to BIOS for scholarships to assist with the course fee.Instructors: Dr. Samantha de Putron (BIOS) and TBD

Web Address of Course Info:
http://www.bios.edu/education/summer-courses/