Dr. Erinn Muller, staff scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory, recently received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Early Concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award for two-years of research aimed at better predicting how corals react to disease exposure and how that will influence the coral community of the future. The study is based on immune response and disease resistance and will quantify how susceptible coral species are to disease by examining their immunity through a series of novel experiments and approaches. The EAGER award supports exploratory work in its early stages on untested, but potentially transformative, research ideas or approaches. It enables the future of new approaches in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning and innovation. This $220,331 grant will allow Muller and two other scientists, Laura Mydlarz (University Texas) and Marilyn Brandt (University of Virgin Islands), to study seven coral species from the Caribbean and look for ways to better understand how diseases affect coral communities and how corals may respond to different climate change scenarios.

Mote Marine