Nerd Talk: Coral Restoration in West Hawai‘i: How do we do it?
Talk description: Coral restoration in West Hawai‘i is a relatively novel practice. The Nature Conservancy aims to explore and test various restoration growth methods across different species to better understand what are the most effective ways conduct coral restoration in West Hawai‘i. This talk will briefly describe the background for TNC’s West Hawai’i pilot placed-based restoration projects as well as the various methods we will be testing throughout the process. This talk will also include an activity to showcase one of the methods we will be using to outplant corals back onto the reef.
Speaker Background :Mikayla Barnwell
Mikayla originally grew up on the east coast in central Connecticut. She did her undergraduate studies in Rhode Island at Roger Williams University where she majored in marine biology and minored in mathematics. She moved to Hawai‘i Island in 2021 to pursue her master’s degree in tropical conservation biology and environmental science at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. During her masters program she began working with The Nature Conservancy as an intern on the development of their pilot coral restoration projects, and has become a full-time team member since August of 2022. Her work continues to focus on the development and implementation of TNC’s pilot coral restoration project.
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