Halmos College Marine Seminar Series Discusses Habitat Degradation on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef

On Wednesday, May 1 at 6pm, the Halmos College Department of Marine and Environmental Sciences presents a seminar by Morgan Pratchett. Ph.D. of James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. Dr. Pratchett’s talk is entitled, “Causes and consequences of coral loss and habitat degradation on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef”.

The seminar will be held at the Oceanographic Campus in the GHOC 3^rd floor auditorium.

Professor Morgan Pratchett is a Research Leader in Coral Reef Ecology at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, based at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. He has published approximately 300 papers, with a major emphasis on understanding and managing coral reef ecosystems. While he was trained as a coral biologist, he is an international authority on the biology of butterflyfishes (family Chaetodontidae) and has also made major contributions towards managing outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster spp.), which continue to plague reefs throughout the Indo-west Pacific. Having recognized that the single greatest threat to coral reef ecosystems is anthropogenic climate change, his research is increasingly focused on understanding differential responses and vulnerabilities of coral reef organisms to changing environmental and habitat conditions. He was heavily involved in documenting recent effects of mass coral bleaching on coral assemblages on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and is currently leading critical research to understand the legacy of these changes for reef fishes and fisheries.