The Ninth Annual MCR LTER All-Investigator meeting brought together investigators, postdoctoral scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, technicians and information managers from multiple disciplines across the country to UCSB to discuss their collaborative research on coral reef ecology. The two-day meeting began with a welcome and overview of the MCR LTER project by Lead Investigator, Russ Schmitt. Research presentation followed and focused on research related to the two current overarching themes of the MCR LTER program: ‘Resilience of Contemporary Reefs’ and ‘Reefs of the Future’.

Investigators and graduate students presented their research on coral resilience ranging from community and population demographics to molecular and genetic connectivity of species in Mo’orea and the surrounding islands. Researchers seeking to understand the composition and structure of coral reefs in the future presented their research on coral physiology within the context of climate change and ocean acidification conditions.

Investigator Jim Hench led a special presentation on the upcoming MCR UNOLS Cruise for fall 2014. Collaborating investigator Ruth Gates from the University of Hawaii also presented on an exciting new project called the EarthCube Initiative, an online data management system that allows unprecedented data sharing for coral reef systems science.