Ann Marie Hulver is a Ph.D. student advised by Dr. Andréa Grottoli. Here she describes how the Friends of Orton Hall furthered her academic career.
In October 2021, my advisor Dr. Andréa Grottoli were able to travel to Ischia, Italy to collect coral samples for Chapter 1 of my PhD thanks to the funds from Friends of Orton Hall. Ischia, Italy has underwater volcanic vents that release carbon dioxide, naturally acidifying the surrounding water to pH levels expected later this century (pH ~ 7.8). Our collaborators noticed two species of corals growing near these vents, Astroides calycularis and Cladocora caespitosa. For this chapter of my PhD we collected 10 individuals of each species from CO2 vents and 10 individuals of each species from non-vent sites for a total of 40 corals. At each site we also collected zooplankton samples and water samples for dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and particulate organic carbon (POC). With these samples I will look at how the corals collected from CO2 vents are able to live in low pH environments. In the lab back at Ohio State I will be doing analyses for total lipids, isotopic composition, carbohydrate concentration, chlorophyll concentration, and protein concentration. These analyses will give us insight into the future of these corals under future ocean acidification conditions.
