If you've been paying attention here at MBSL&S or at any of my
Facebook or
Twitter microblogging, you know I'm a big fan of ocean scientists who value public outreach (often called
broader impact) as an important component of the scientific enterprise. Too often, broader impact is seen as an afterthought and I've had way too many run-ins with scientists who think a lecture or droning PowerPoint presentation is broad impact.
But to channel Bob Dylan: the times, they are a changin'.
I've been handing out quite a few YAOSGBIR (Yet Another Ocean Scientist Getting Broader Impact Right) recognitions recently.
SEAPLEX,
Finding Coral,
NE Pacific Expedition,
the Beagle Project-Tocorimé Pilot Project, to name a few. And joining the list was the recent
New England Aquarium-Woods Hole-Conservation International 3-week research expedition to the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA). This expedition, made up of an international team of scientists, divers, and photographers, surveyed what may be the most pristine, intact coral reef ecosystems on Earth.
You may have been following
the Aquarium's expedition blog that's kept an almost daily play-by-play of the mission. If so, you know the expedition got off to a (literally) rocky start
with 8-10 foot seas during the open water crossing from Fiji to the Phoenix Islands. But the expedition team prevailed, and what sights they saw!
I was delighted when New England Aquarium media master Jeff Ives (Jives) invited me to submit a few questions to
Dr Randi Rotjan, one of the coral reef scientists on board the Phoenix Islands Expedition. I want to thank Dr Rotjan for taking time out of her incredibly busy post-expedition schedule to answer my queries. And special thanks as well to Jives for being the virtual glue that connected me to the expedition. Yet another reason to love the internet!
And now on with the Q&A:
MBSL&S: I'm fascinated by your interests and exploration of what you call "ecosystem engineers," or species that can significantly alter or manipulate their environments. What ecosystem engineer species are you hoping to study on this expedition? Can you describe some of the experiments (or observations) you plan to conduct? Dr Randi Rotjan: Ecosystem engineers abound on coral reefs, and include the corals themselves! Coral animals build the structure of reefs with their calcium carbonate deposition. In many ways, they are analogous to trees in a forest – both trees and corals create the physical structure on which so many other organisms depend, and thus dramatically alter the landscape with their presence. In temperate forests, beavers are often cited as ecosystem engineers because they cut down trees – thereby again altering the landscape by creating dams, which not only changes the distribution of trees, but also diverts waterways. Similarly, corallivores (organisms that eat live coral) are also ecosystem engineers because, like beavers, they can change the shape of the habitat.
MBSL&S: As far as reef ecosystem engineers are concerned, there seem to be varying levels of "engineering" at play. You have the "frame building" species such as the stony corals, but then you have an amazing assortment of more localized bafflers and encrusters like sea fans, soft corals, crinoids, tunicates, sponges, and so on. It all can seem quite complex and confusing to non-scientists. Is there a system you use to make sense of all the players and associations (large and small) that comprise the reef complex?Dr Randi Rotjan: I’ve tried to touch on this a bit above with my forest-beaver analogy, but you are referring to the more minor reef builders here, I think. Just like a forest has birds, shrubs, fungi, flowers, insects, mammals, etc; a coral reef has a large and diverse assemblage of residents. Remember that a healthy coral reef (like a forest) is among the most diverse and complicated ecosystems on the planet. All of the myriad reef denizens contribute to this complexity, and in their own way, any organism might be considered an ecosystem engineer, since everything impacts something, at some point. But think of it this way – if you removed the trees, would a forest be a forest? Similarly, if you removed all of the corals on a reef, the landscape would be dramatically and instantly changed, and there would be major habitat loss supporting the majority of reef critters. That’s why I think the corals themselves are the critical ecosystem engineers of the system.
MBSL&S: The Phoenix Islands expedition is quite an undertaking. Surely there are closer and more easily accessible coral reef systems to study. Why are the Phoenix Islands so interesting to the expedition team?Dr Randi Rotjan: The Phoenix Islands are among the most remote reefs in the world. Thus, they can serve as a reference site (relative to other reefs) for examining the effects of global change, in the absence of local change (little to no direct human influence at the present time).
From my 2nd blog post:
“Most of the islands are uninhabited, and the PIPA Marine Reserve is now the largest in the world, there is very little (if any) local impact by humans. In other words, there is no tourism, only artisinal fishing (if any). There is no local or point-source pollution, no dynamite fishing, etc. While these islands probably experienced major human impact in the 1930s and 1940s when the Phoenix Islands were a strategically important military base, the Phoenix Islands have been mostly left alone for the past 50+ years. Thus, they are now one of the most remote (and among the healthiest) coral reefs on the planet.
However, no reef is immune to global change (after all, global change is ... global!). Thus, studying the Phoenix Islands is an opportunity to isolate local versus global human impacts on reefs. Almost anywhere else on earth, global and local impacts are mixed together, and scientists can't separate one from the other! But here, we will be able to look at global impacts with very little (if any) local influence.”
MBSL&S: Clearly, the team will be involved in quite a bit of direct data collection and sampling in the field, but how much of the science will have to wait until the team members return to the aquarium or their research facilities? Will this expedition fuel your non-field activity and writing over the next year or more? Dr Randi Rotjan: Our goal for the trip is to examine a reef exempt from local human impact. To do this, we collected lots of samples (for example, to look at aspects of coral symbiosis, health, and condition). We will analyze these samples in our labs at home, and will share some samples with our collaborators (who have additional expertise).
In the field, we collected data via transects and quadrats, where we counted the number and status of fishes and corals along a given distance. We will be statistically analyzing these data and writing the results for scientific publications over the next year or so.
The scientific process is never complete until the data are published, so we still have a lot of work ahead of us.
MBSL&S: I totally sympathize with what you must be enduring on those high seas from Fiji to the Phoenix Islands. I have a tragic, fatal flaw as a marine ecologist in that while I LOVE being on the water, I get horrifically sea sick. How are you and the crew coping? Any sure fire remedies that work?Dr Randi Rotjan: We share the occupational irony of seasickness. My sympathies! As for remedies – people tried various drugs. The scopolamine patches worked pretty well. But in the end, we just had to ride it out. We all found our sealegs after 3-4 days.
MBSL&S: Finally, what's your all time favorite, must have treat that you always pack to get you through expeditions and field work? Be honest! Mine is packing several cans of Pringles! Dr Randi Rotjan: Funny you should ask. I have several coping strategies on these sorts of trips (an MP3 player is a must!), but my #1 all-time favorite treat is a cup of delicious herbal tea (I bring lots of flavors). I also love wearing skirts and dresses in the field – besides being surprisingly practical between dives, nothing else brings the same sense of civility and calm to a working trip.
This little gem appeared in my inbox today. I'll just hold onto this one in the event that all my other conservation efforts fall through. 
