Objectives:

In order to understand how land use and anthropogenic activities are currently impacting coral reef communities in American Samoa, I led a research team to the island of Tutuila during July of 2015. Using a diverse set of interdisciplinary methods, we gathered a wide range of samples including ground and coastal surface water samples, the tissues common marine algae, and microbial communities from biofilm and water samples from over 70 sites in four study locations. In addition, all study locations were surveyed for groundwater discharge flux (Rn gas measurements) and the physical properties of the water column (salinity, temperature, and depth) were measured.

Current Status:

Study was published in February 2019 in Hydrology – https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrology6010018

CLICK HERE for look a recent Poster with preliminary data from this project