The Society’s Grants Programme is supporting a wide range of geographical research in 2015: from the effects of climate change on pre-historic pastoralists, to tundra shrub expansion in the Arctic. However, research on corals has emerged as a particular theme this year.
The Society is supporting a number of independent projects – led by undergraduates, postgraduates and senior researchers – which are undertaking innovative coral research across the world. The projects focus on different aspects of coral research, from investigating the effects of rising sea temperatures, to improving our understanding of the complex creatures that inhabit these fragile ecosystems.
Professor Alex Rogers leads the Thinking Deep expedition, supported by the Ralph Brown Expedition Award. A team of researchers from the University of Oxford and University of St Andrews will travel to Utila, Honduras, this summer to explore the role of mesophotic coral ecosystems as depth refuges. They will be taking an undergraduate student as part of the Society’s Learning and Leading Fieldwork Apprenticeship scheme.
Tamara Green, PhD candidate at University of St Andrews, will also be in Honduras conducting fieldwork on the impacts of climate change on sulphur biogeochemistry of the reef system.
And a little closer to home, a team of undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University of Glasgow will be studying impacts on the health of reef ecosystems in the Red Sea, supported by a Geographical Fieldwork Grant.
Visit our In the Field page for news and highlights from these recipients and more, directly from the field, throughout the summer.