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IN THIS ISSUE Life Down Under Word Power Doggone Helpful Greetings from Costa Rica Taking Technology into Account(ing) Lucky Fall CurricuNet Chancellor's Column Development News Factoids Newsmakers Accomplishments
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Life
Down Under “To gauge the overall health of reefs and understand the impacts of human activities on them, scientists must first establish how a healthy reef functions, to obtain a baseline for comparison with stressed ones,” he said. Over the past few years, Detwiler has traveled to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to look for answers to that question in a series of projects exploring aspects of the biology of common marine invertebrates in the coral reef community. Moreover, he uses these experiences to interest and involve his students in marine biology. Detwiler’s ongoing research program began at Lizard Island Research Station, a world-renowned marine biology lab situated 8 km offshore of the continent and nearly 2000 km north of Sydney. In November 2000, he joined a team of scientists from Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden to study corals, tiny jellyfish-like animals whose hard skeletons form reefs. Most corals reproduce by shedding eggs and sperm into the water for only one or two nights a year in a mass spawning event which can resemble an underwater pink snowstorm. The team determined the timing and order of spawning for several of the most abundant coral species in the region, and used that information to distinguish two different species of coral from what had appeared to be a single species. In December, in between trips to Lizard Island, Detwiler visited colleagues at the University of Tasmania and toured their cutting-edge aquaculture facilities which housed lobster, abalone, and several types of fish. He made a few dives in the Tasman Sea and spotted bizarre sea dragons (relatives of sea horses, and currently on display at the the Birch Aquarium, La Jolla as the “Dr. Seuss Fish”). The coral-spawning study continued through January 2001, and was filmed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for a documentary on Australian habitats shown nationally later that year. “The filmmakers shot some excellent footage of early-stage coral larvae conceived during our spawning experiments,” he said. Detwiler returned to Australia in January 2002 to begin an ecological study of the surreal, many-armed invertebrates known as feather stars, or crinoids. For two weeks, he and an assistant from Sydney’s University of Technology carefully collected several hundred of these delicate animals from numerous coral “bommies” and then, back in the lab, marked them with a harmless chemical dye. The animals were then returned to their reefs and released. In January 2003, Detwiler and his assistants plan to re-collect the animals and determine the crinoids’ annual growth rate, measure arm loss (providing some information on predation rate) and record the animals’ dispersion across the reef. The researchers will also examine the symbiotic community of worms, shrimp, crabs, and other invertebrates that live in and on each crinoid. Their findings will contribute to our understanding of the basic biology of these animals and how they interact with their reef environment. “It’s shocking how little is known about tropical crinoids when many kinds are large, colorful, and pretty noticeable on the reef,” he noted. “But, I’m glad that’s the case, since it gives me a reason to dive in 90º water on one of the world’s healthiest reefs at least once a year.” This research also contributes to the quality of marine biology students’ classroom experience. “Students are more interested and involved when they hear lectures full of findings fresh from the field — in some cases, only a week or two old,” Detwiler said, referring to the first week of spring semester 2002, when he began teaching just four days after returning from Australia. “Students enjoy seeing pictures of white sand beaches, azure water, and reefs exploding with jewel-like fish…my photos from the Great Barrier Reef help make lectures come alive.” Believing that marine biology (and coral reefs themselves) are best appreciated via direct experiences in the field, Detwiler has developed a four-week marine biology summer course for SDCCD students, tentatively planned to be held in Belize. If approved for summer 2003, up to 20 students would experience firsthand the unsurpassed biodiversity of the world’s second largest barrier reef. Detwiler’s augmenting classroom lectures with details of this ongoing research and the possibility of field study let City College marine biology students really dive into their subject matter.
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Marine biology professor journeys to Australia’s Great Barrier reef to study coral reef ecosystems
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