SeaMonster blog

  • Galapagos intertidal

    Rachel Gittman took this on Fernandina one foggy morning in February. I love the contrast in colors. 

  • Are unreasonably harsh reviewers retarding the pace of coral reef science?

    Are unreasonably harsh reviewers retarding the pace of coral reef science?

    I just published my first PeerJ Preprint here! Abstract: Identifying the baseline or natural state of an ecosystem is a critical step in effective conservation and restoration. Like most marine ecosystems, coral reefs are being degraded by human activities: corals and fish have declined in abundance and seaweeds, or macroalgae, have become more prevalent. The challenge…

  • Fiji fish – Napoleon wrasse

    Another coral reef fish I'm hoping to see in Fiji (on my upcoming expedition with Joshua Drew) is the Napoleon wrasse or humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus). They are fish that are especially close to my heart because I spent four years studying them for my PhD. Here's a splendid male: So I'm biased – clearly –…

  • Grad student time budget

    Grad

  • The 97% consensus on human-caused climate change

    If you believe the climate is changing and that human activties are the cause, then you can probably go back to cleaning your house or whatever you were doing when you took a break to check in with SeaMonster. But, if you are one of the hundred million or so Americans that still don't believe in this…

  • Fiji fish – Emperor Angelfish

    I'm stoked to be going to Fiji this June with Joshua Drew from Colombia University and his crew of PhDs and masters students. My main role on the expedition is going to be documenting the science and spreading the word to the rest of the world about reefs and conservation and all things fishy (I like to think of myself…

  • Global warming since 1999

    Climate change deniers like to claim there has been “no warming since 1998” which was an especially warm year due to an intense El Nino.  Well that ain’t true.  Global warming has indeed continued, especially in the deep sea due to the prevalence of several La Nina events recently. Here is how much the land…

  • Galapagos field site

    How about a Galapagos picture break. This is Lindsey Carr’s field site on Fernandina.  In this bay a crazy diversity of critters coexist, including hermatypic corals and penguins, orcas and white tip sharks, sea lions, marine iguanas and many-a-sea cucumber.  This is one of the few places I’ve been in the Galapagos that is truly…

  • 5 things everyone should know about ancient oceans

    Here’s the first in the series of 5 videos I made with researchers at Cardiff University’s School of Ocean & Earth Sciences. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE4PN1GdilY[/youtube] Check out all 5 in the playlist here.

  • Shared office printer instruction manual

    via PhD comics

Got any book recommendations?