Dr. Jennifer Smith, an affiliated researcher of the Center for Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation, was featured on a panel at renowned Texas entertainment festival SXSW earlier this month, sharing the work of her and Dr. Stuart Sandin’s “100 Island Challenge” research program. Dr. Smith discussed how advances in imaging and use of 3D visualization software created by partners at UCSD school of Engineering is assisting her team with surveys at 100 islands around the globe, which will help show how coral reefs change over time due to climate change and other anthropogenic and/or natural forces. Dr. Smith and Dr. Sandin continue to lead both classical field surveys and work with innovative technologies such as autonomous cameras and sensors, high resolution photo mosaics, 3D mappings, and underwater microscopes. By using some of the most advanced survey technologies used in marine science, the team hopes to inform better management and conservation of threatened coral reef ecosystems.
Learn more about the 100 Island Challenge here.
Learn more about Dr. Smith and our affiliated researchers here.