These diseases seem to have a less-easily isolated cause. Corals are adapted to fairly narrow temperature ranges. When it gets too warm, they will be more susceptible to disease. Two of the students who went to St. Croix have also been helping Parsons-Hubbard in various aspects of her own research . Students considering spending next Winter Term engaged in such tropical research should be willing to think, says Parsons-Hubbard, in broad, multidisciplinary terms.
Any ecosystem is a product of physical, biological, and chemical processes.
Students interested in this type of field research need a background in biology and geology as well as a good grounding in mathematics, particularly statistics, and chemistry. Attempting to reconstruct ancient environments requires cross-disciplinary thinking. Julie Fritz snorkels in St. Croix.