Ann K Money

Marine habitats and issues have been my passion since I was a child growing up on the Chesapeake Bay. I have dedicated my career to educating and research, from sea turtle conservation, groundfish operations, anthropogenic effects, and my Ph.D. research on coral reef habitats. As Director of Research, I share my knowledge with half a million visitors annually. After a 25 year career in marine biology, I began to explore bio-fluorescence and realized that there was much to be learned regarding the functionality and potential importance for failing reef systems. Building on previous research, I would like to explore whether increasing green fluorescent protein emission by use of CRISPR manipulation, will increase coral symbiont recruitment. Without its symbiont, coral can not survive bleaching events. Bleaching events occur when the coral expels the symbiont due to an increase in water temperature due to human impact. As we move forward, we need to rethink how we conserve coral reefs and I hope to add to that body of knowledge and provide some additional tools to preserve our important reef habitats.

August 2017