URI
students sail to remote Pacific islands to study effect of climate change on
coral reefs
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| SSV Robert C. Seamans. Photo courtesy of Sea Education Association. |
Two University of Rhode Island students are sailing to remote
islands in the Pacific Ocean to study any damage to coral reefs from climate
change.
Hailey Simpson, who is getting her master’s degree in ocean
engineering, and Kyle Alvanas, who will graduate next year with a degree in
marine affairs, are among 24 students from American colleges conducting
research in this largely under-studied region.
Simpson and Alvanas are making the voyage with Sea Education
Association, or SEA Semester, an internationally recognized program that
combines classroom learning on shore at Woods Hole, Mass., with study aboard a
research vessel.
Simpson, Alvanas and the other students started the program June
12 at Woods Hole, where they completed preparatory coursework and developed
their own research projects in ocean science or conservation policy.
This week, the students began a five-week sailing voyage as
crewmembers and scientists aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans, owned and operated
by the Sea Education Association. The 134-foot brigantine is one of the most
sophisticated oceanographic research sailing school vessels built in the United
States.
The group started in Pago Pago, American Samoa, and will sail
800 nautical miles across open ocean in a round-trip voyage to the Phoenix
Islands, where they will spend three weeks conducting their research. The
expedition will end Aug. 11 in American Samoa.
The students will collect samples from the marine environment to
study the impact of El Nino and assess the effects of climate change, including
coral bleaching. Data collected by students during the voyage will be reported
to the Government of Kirbati, which oversees the islands.
The islands, mostly uninhabited, are in the central Pacific
Ocean, east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands. The protected
area is home to about 120 species of coral and more than 500 species of fish.
“PIPA is one of the very few regions on Earth where scientists
can study an intact ecosystem and its response to climate change,” says Paul
Joyce, dean of the semester program.
“We’re extremely grateful to have the
opportunity once again to work with the government of Kirbati and with our
scientific partners to study this extremely isolated and important island
nation, which can serve as a climate change benchmark on a global scale.”
To track the students’ expedition through daily posts, visit
their blog. http://www.sea.edu/sea_currents/all_robert_c_seamans/category/robert_c._seamans
A Boston University accredited study abroad program, SEA
Semester is a leading off-campus environmental studies
program focused on the ocean.
While the academic focus varies, each
program offers courses designed to explore a specific ocean-related theme
using a cross-disciplinary approach.
SEA is based on Cape Cod in the oceanographic
research community of Woods Hole, Massachusetts.