NSU Horizons Spring 2014

26 HORIZONS F rom her corner office in NSU’s iconic, glass- walled Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosys- tems Research at NSU’s Oceanographic Center (OC), Nicole Fogarty , Ph.D., looks out on an unconventional work station: the Atlantic Ocean. With the complex Florida reef system a short boat ride away, the NSU assistant professor and her students are working to unlock clues to the survival of some of the world’s most endangered corals. The target of their research: the impact various threats are having on the corals’ future, and how the delicate animals are adapting to an environ- ment that has led to a dramatic loss of their species. “People just think of them as slimy rocks, but they are really quite remarkable,” Fogarty said of the corals she has dedicated her life to researching. Coral reefs are considered the rainforest of the sea, harboring thousands of ocean species and the key to the health of the marine world’s ecosystem. That’s why, with Florida being the home to 84 percent of the nation’s reefs, NSU built the $50-million Center of Excellence at the OC. It was that investment in an ecosystem Fogarty finds so meaningful that drew the Dayton, Ohio, native to the coral reef center, the largest of its kind in the United States. “It has really put NSU on the map for its dedication to coral reef research,” said Fogarty, who joined the center’s faculty in July 2012. The center’s spectacular architecture and proximity to the Florida reef system, she added, makes coming to work feel less like, well, work. During a tour of the grounds, she shows off a laboratory brimming with coral specimens, some taken from ocean reefs, some from corals cultured in large seawater tanks in the center’s outdoor nursery. “Having your study system in your backyard makes it extremely accessible,” Fogarty said. It’s a system Fogarty has spent years researching, with the help of funding from the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian Institution’s Marine Science Network, the American Academy of Underwater Science, and the Florida State Wildlife Grants Program, among others. She first fell in love with the ocean and its under- water beauty during childhood scuba-diving trips to the Florida Keys and the Caribbean. She eventually pursued a bachelor’s degree in biology at Wittenberg University— where she took courses in marine studies in the Bahamas, Duke University Marine Laboratory, and Bermuda from 1996 to 1997. But Fogarty’s fondness for corals sprouted in 2001 and 2002 as a research assistant at the University of North Carolina—Wilmington, where she got her first experience studying coral reproduction. After a subsequent stint as a research technician at the National Oceanic and Atmo- spheric Administration Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research, she attended graduate school and earned a doctoral degree in biology from Florida State University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce. “She has a resume I’ve definitely found very interesting,” said Josh Stocker, an NSU master’s degree student studying marine environmental science and coastal zone manage- ment. Under Fogarty’s direction, Stocker is studying the effects sex steroids—namely estrogen and progesterone leached into the water through the sewer discharge system— are having on coral reproduction and growth. Understand- ing those impacts can lead to better strategies in mitigating the pollution, Fogarty said. Unlocking Clues to Coral Survival By Michelle T. Michaels FACULTY profile Nicole Fogarty has dedicated her life to coral reef research.