Join us for a discussion about how climate change is impacting our coral reefs.
Relevant Resources:
About the Event
Coral reefs are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, supporting a wide range of marine life and providing essential services to coastal communities. However, rising ocean temperatures, acidification, and extreme weather events are putting increasing pressure on these fragile systems. Around the world, coral reefs are experiencing more frequent and severe bleaching events, threatening both ecological health and local economies. In response, researchers are exploring innovative approaches to help reefs adapt and recover. Maiya May (PBS) moderated a conversation between Andrew Baker (University of Miami) and Katie Cramer (Arizona State University) about the impacts of climate change on coral reefs and how researchers are working to preserve them for future generations.
Climate Conversations: Pathways to Action is a monthly webinar series from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that aims to convene high-level, cross-cutting, nonpartisan conversations about issues relevant to policy action on climate change.
Participant Bios
Maiya May hosts Weathered — a PBS series that aims to educate the public on climate science and our most common natural disasters, how they’re changing, and what we can do to prepare. Maiya is a storyteller determined to build a legacy rooted in her love for nature. Inspired by David Attenborough, she creates thought-provoking, nature-related content that strengthens our knowledge, appreciation, and connection to the natural world. She studied geography and atmospheric science at the University of Missouri-Columbia and has previously produced weather and climate-related content for KOMU-TV (Columbia, Mo.), Fox 5 Atlanta (WAGA-TV), WSB-TV (ABC), and The Weather Channel.
Andrew Baker is a professor and marine biologist whose research focuses on coral reefs and climate change. He directs the Coral Reefs Futures Lab at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine Atmospheric and Earth Science, focusing on the development and testing of methods to increase coral reef resilience and leads a new Miami-based project (X-reefs) to develop next-generation hybrid reefs. Dr. Baker is a Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, a former Fullbright Scholar, adjunct faculty member of Columbia University, Fellow of the Explorers Club, and Inventor-in-Residence at the Frost Museum of Science in Miami. He recently served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Interventions to Increase the Persistence and Resilience of Coral Reefs. He has an undergraduate degree from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. from the University of Miami.
Katie Cramer is an Associate Research Professor at the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes at Arizona State University, a Research Associate at Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and a National Geographic Explorer. Katie is a historical ecologist whose work reconstructs long-term changes in marine ecosystems due to human activities to motivate and inform conservation interventions. Her current research is focused on understanding the role of long-standing human disturbances such as land development and fishing in recent Caribbean coral reef declines and how mitigating these stressors impacts reef resilience to climate change. Her work is interdisciplinary, spanning the fields of marine ecology, paleobiology, marine policy, and fisheries science.
