orals may glow yellow, orange and red to improve light conditions for algae. Fluorescent orange, red, green, and yellow corals found deep in the Red Sea were a flashy surprise for BIOS researcher Tim Noyes and colleagues during a recent international workshop held in Israel. The eye-catching corals, which host proteins that make them colorful, could have promising medical applications. See details along with video and photos at Nature.com and TheBlaze.com.

This summer BIOS is offering two unique courses focused on coral reef ecology, and both provide exceptional opportunities for university students to gain hands-on experience with modern research methods. Bermuda’s coral reefs provide spectacular underwater classrooms for SCUBA-certified students to experiment and study as they become the next generation of coral reef scientists and stewards.

Growing up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, Danielle Becker’s parents encouraged her and her sister to explore and appreciate the natural world. For many years, her family traveled to visit relatives in Florida over spring break and Becker recalls feeling amazed by the ocean.

BIOS reef ecologist Eric Hochberg, principal investigator of the COral Reef Airborne Laboratory (CORAL) mission, provided a lunchtime seminar to scientists and staff at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C. on August 15 to outline the mission’s goals, science, and status.

Corals, with their calcium carbonate skeletons and symbiotic photosynthetic algae, are among the first organisms to be negatively impacted by climate change. Warming waters cause coral to expel the algae, called zooxanthellae, while a gradually acidifying ocean, resulting from increased amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolved in the seawater, can weaken and even dissolve coral skeletons.

Similar to forests on land, the most important source of energy for tropical shallow water coral reefs is light. Photosynthetic algae, called zooxanthellae, live within the tissues of reef-building corals and provide them with oxygen and the products of photosynthesis, including glucose and amino acids. The corals, in turn, use these products as the energy source for building calcium carbonate skeletons and growing more living tissue. Other ecologically important reef organisms, such as macroalgae and turf algae, depend on light for growth and reproduction as well, making light the driving force behind the growth and overall productivity of coral reef ecosystems.

A team of technical divers and scientists, accompanied by an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and molecular biology tools, will comprehensively map, photograph, and study part of Bermuda’s deepest reef system with funds from the Cawthorn Innovation Award, now in its third year of supporting the work of BIOS scientists.

As college education becomes as much about experiential learning outside the classroom as it is about lectures, labs, and study halls, many schools have begun to adopt what is known as the “4-1-4” academic calendar. In this system, students have a 4-month semester, then a 1-month “intersession” or “mini session,” followed by another 4-month semester. This offers students a variety of opportunities during this January term, including study abroad programs, internships, undergraduate research, and independent study.

Growing up on his parent’s coffee farm in Brazil, Samuel Faria didn’t spend much time thinking about the ocean. In fact, he wanted to work with teenagers as a high school teacher or college professor. When he was 8, his family moved to a small town in southeastern Brazil, which was his home until he began his undergraduate degree in biological sciences at the University of São Paulo. This is where his passion for science began, and also where he went on to earn his master’s and doctoral degrees in comparative biology.

When most people think about sea anemones they usually think of clownfish as well—the small orange, black, and white fish that make their homes within the sea anemones’ tentacles. Anemones and clownfish have a symbiotic relationship known as “mutualism,” in which each species benefits the other. Able to withstand an anemone’s stinging tentacles, the clownfish use the anemones for protection from predators. In return, the clownfish clean the anemones of parasites, provide a source of nitrogen for growth and regeneration, and even help circulate the water around the anemones. While this is one of the most recognizable forms of mutualism in the ocean, sea anemones also have symbiotic relationships with a variety of crustaceans.