I went down to Miami, FL to talk with Shane Wever, of Reef Renewal USA, and Hannah Ditzler, of SECORE, to learn about a few different ways that coral are getting a hand from humans.

It's currently a two-pronged approach, using both fragmentation and assisted sexual reproduction.

Organizations like Reef Renewal are primarily using fragmentation to grow new coral. That's where fragments of established coral are gently broken or sawed off, then those parts are "planted" and they grow into a new individual. In this way, coral are kind of like plants! This technique is really good at growing lots of biomass quickly, and Reef Renewal USA has played a part in developing and refining techniques for growing coral, both in the lab and in the ocean.

SECORE, on the other hand, is addressing a different problem: declining genetic diversity among reefs. As reefs bleach and die off, they lose the opportunity to create new coral with genetic mutations that might help the new generation survive hotter environments. Where fragmentation can produce volume, assisted sexual reproduction is able to produce new generations that have these genetic mutations.

But how does it all work? Is it working? And are coral even animals??

Learn all this and more by watching now!

https://youtu.be/J4mePLG67qs

For A salad full of glitter, I wanted to take a more cinematic approach. This was partly because I wanted to stretch my creative chops, but also because I wanted to tell a story of sorts: I wanted to tell a simple story about a person going about their regular day-in-the-life, but everywhere he turns, he encounters plastics and microplastics. I want the viewer to have the same journey I did during my research, realizing that we are absolutely surrounded and there is no escape.

The video has some useful tips for how to reduce your own exposure, but the truth is that you cutting out plastic straws and bringing your canvas bags to the store isn't solving the problem. This is a global issue, and we need to be taking it seriously and pressuring policymakers around the world to do better.

I put a lot of love and effort into this project, you can check it out here!

https://youtu.be/neR4ZuuCywE

A paper published this year (Finucci et al., 2024) announced the discovery of Harriotta avia, a new species of ghost shark native to New Zealand and Australia. I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Dominique Didier, who helped discover them! She was super helpful, a ton of fun, and clearly very passionate and excited about what she does. She helped teach me about ghost sharks in general and spoke with me about the process of finding, documenting, and announcing a new species.

Check out the short here (transcript) and the full video here (transcript)!

I just published a new video on Wetlands! It's the first in a series called Ground Work, which is about how each biome contributes in its own way to the stability, biodiversity, and beauty of the planet.

This is somewhere between a surface-level look and a deep dive on the differences between different wetlands and why wetlands as a whole are so important to us humans. From providing food, to filtering water, to buffering storm surge, to sequestering and storing carbon, these things are amazing!

I've really grown to love the wetlands of Florida as I've learned more about them. They really are beautiful. The wildlife, the calm waters, the shade from the mangroves. It's just so nice to be on the water out there, and I hope this video can share my passion for these ecosystems while also sharing some awesome facts!

This was my first real project aside from the shorts, and it was really ambitious, I don't think I realized how much it would be to make a 25-minute video with multiple locations. But with a ton of help from my amazing friends, many many hours of research, writing, shooting, and editing, and a last-minute push to just get it done, it's finally out!