13th International Coral Reef Symposium: Hawaii
Elena Bollati
NOCS

(Photo caption: Taking a break from the conference to roast marshmallows on hot lava flowing from the Kilauea volcano. Photo credit: Dr Sabrina Rosset)
This summer, the Challenger Society Student Travel Award gave me the opportunity to present my research at the 13th International Coral Reef Symposium in Honolulu, Hawaii. Held every 4 years, ICRS is by far the largest and most important meeting in the world of coral reef science, hosting over 2,500 delegates from at least 80 different countries.
Attending ICRS had been one of my career dreams ever since I became interested in the field of coral biology, and I was not let down. Over the five days I sat in more than one hundred talks, covering topics from molecular biology and microbiology all the way to the management and conservation issues that coral reefs currently face. As there were often up to ten concurrent sessions, I had to perfect the art of ‘session-hopping’ so I wouldn’t miss the talks I was most interested in. I had no idea one could learn so much in only 5 days!
My presentation was on coral photoconvertible fluorescent proteins as a potential adaptation to low light environments, a research project I completed during the first year and a half of my PhD. Although I had presented these results before, this was the first time I showed them to leading experts in the field of coral fluorescence. Some of them gave me very positive feedback, which made it worth the hours I had spent preparing my slides and rehearsing my talk.
The conference was also a great occasion to catch up with colleagues and to build new connections. In the breaks between sessions, I had meetings about projects that will be part of my future PhD work, which involve collaborations in California, Scotland and Israel.
After the conference, I had the opportunity to spend some time exploring Hawaii with my colleagues. Among many highlights, I had the incredible luck to witness a lava flow from the Kilauea volcano and to scuba dive with a group of manta rays.
Presenting at ICRS was has been one of the best and most productive experiences of my PhD studies so far, and I am extremely grateful to the Challenger Society for Marine Science for funding my attendance.
Profile:
Elena Bollati is a second year PhD student with the Coral Reef Laboratory, University of Southampton. Her research focuses on using coral fluorescence as an indicator of environmental stress in tropical coral reefs. The project involves long term experiments in a mesocosm aquarium, where by manipulating temperature and water quality Elena explores how the interaction between multiple stressors affects the optical properties of corals.
Latest News
NOC Association (NOCA) AGM 2025
The 14th AGM of the NOC Association will be held on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th May 2025. This free, on-line event will take place on Zoom, across two consecutive mornings, each starting at 10:00 and ending at 12:30. The agenda will focus on national capability (NC) science, ships, and autonomous vehicles, and how the community can engage. There will be an update on AtlantiS and on the new marine science scoping group. All are warmly welcome to join.
To participate, please complete your registration here.
For enquiries: Jackie Pearson, Secretary to NOCA: jfpea@noc.ac.uk
Townhall on UK Arctic Ocean contribution to International Polar Year 32/33
The Arctic is one of the most rapidly-changing regions on our planet, with impacts on global sea-level rise, changes to our climate and weather patterns, and threats to our shared biodiversity and ecosystem services. With the international community rapidly mobilising towards the International Polar Year 32/33, and with new international programmes and initiatives now being shaped, it is timely for the UK Ocean Science community to come together and articulate what its unique offerings could be to Arctic research and technology.
This hybrid 2-day meeting, to be held at NOC Southampton, is intended to start this process. Recognising the Arctic Oceans role in global Earth and Human systems, anticipated outcomes include a high-level shaping of what the UK Arctic Ocean community would like to achieve over the course of the IPY, stimulation of new collaborations and proposals for grand Arctic challenges and a baseline from which wider integration with terrestrial, atmospheric and cryosphere communities, both in the UK and overseas, can be built. Discussions will continue in diverse forums, including the UK Arctic Science Meeting in September and at Challenger 2026.
This action is supported by the UK Arctic Office and UK Arctic and Antarctic Partnership
Further details and meeting registration link will be circulated in April together with a questionnaire to help shape the agenda and discussion
In the meantime…SAVE THE DATE
Potential Availability of NERC Ship Time During the 25/26 Programme Year
The NERC Marine Facilities Programme for 2025/2026 for the RRS Discovery and the RRS James Cook has been published on the Marine Facilities Planning website.
The RRS Discovery programme currently contains a 79 day alongside slot between the 2nd of November 2025 and the 19th of January 2026, which is available for science delivery if funded science projects can make use of this time. Due to the location of the vessel, the ship is most likely to be able to deliver fieldwork in the North and East Atlantic regions. Some support for science capability within the National Marine Equipment Pool is potentially available, although there is no capacity for use of autonomous vehicles or remotely operated vehicles. Any fieldwork within Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) will need the appropriate diplomatic clearance submitted to coastal states at least 6 months in advance, and to NMF with sufficient lead time for processing via the FCDO.
If interested in making use of this ship time, please contact NERC Marine Planning (marineplanning@nerc.ukri.org) ASAP to start discussions.