Global Reef Expedition Final Report

The Global Reef Expedition Final Report summarizes the findings from our 10-year research mission to survey and map coral reefs across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans as well as the Red Sea. The Expedition involved hundreds of research scientists …

A New Model of Coral Reef Health

Scientists have developed a new way to model and map the health of coral reef ecosystems using data collected on the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation’s Global Reef Expedition. This innovative method, presented today at the International Coral Reef …

A New Model of Coral Reef Health

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Scientists have developed a new way to model and map the health of coral reef ecosystems using data collected on the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation’s Global Reef Expedition. This innovative method, presented today at the International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS), can determine which natural and anthropogenic factors are most likely to lead to persistently vibrant coral and fish communities. Their findings can help scientists identify the reefs most likely to survive in a changing world.

The new models are a first step in being able to produce maps of global coral reef resilience.

The Last Great Coral Reef Wilderness

Global Geneva Magazine April 21, 2021 By Liz Thompson & Renée Carlton   Scientists aboard the Global Reef Expedition—the largest coral reef survey and mapping expedition in history—traveled to the Chagos Archipelago to study some of the most pristine coral …

Are reef corals stressed or just pessimistic?

The Conversation December 14, 2018 By Anderson Mayfield Climate change threatens coral reefs around the globe. The high temperatures associated with this phenomenon can lead to “bleaching,” the breakdown of the symbiosis between corals and the algae that live within their cells. Since corals are nourished by these photosynthetically active algal …

AI for Earth

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Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Earth program is harnessing the power of the Global Reef Expedition dataset to build a predictive model of global coral reef health and resilience. Anna Bakker, a Ph.D. student working with KSLOF’s Chief Scientist Dr. Sam Purkis on remote sensing of coral reefs, was awarded the Microsoft AI for Earth Grant for the duration of her Ph.D. This program will grant us access to use the immense power of AI, machine learning, and cloud computing to analyze the data collected during the Global Reef Expedition.

Modeling environmentally-mediated variation in reef coral physiology

Published in Journal of Sea Research, March 2019 By Anderson Mayfield, Alexandra Dempsey, and Chii-Shiarng Chen   Abstract Increases in seawater temperature associated with global climate change are causing the mutualistic relationship between reef-building corals and the symbiotic dinoflagellates (genus Symbiodinium) …

Coral Bleaching and Mortality in the Chagos Archipelago

Coral Bleaching and Mortality in the Chagos Archipelago Atoll Research Bulletin, November 2, 2017 By Charles Sheppard, Anne Sheppard, Andrew Mogg, Dan Bayley, Alexandra C. Dempsey, Ronan Roche, John Turner, Sam Purkis  Abstract The atolls and coral banks of the Chagos …