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Speaker: Dr Sebastian Hennige, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh

Can sea monsters cope with climate change?

The oceans are changing faster than ever before, and corals are under threat. We will explore the ways that these sea monsters support us, the kinds of threats they are facing and what this will mean to them (and us). These threats include ocean acidification and increases in temperatures, which can cause mass coral bleaching and potential death. Our journey will take us from the spectacular deep cold-water coral reefs off the west coast of Scotland, to tropical sun-soaked reefs and white sandy beaches.

Short biography

I always wanted to be a marine biologist after reading diving adventure books as a child. I eventually did a degree in marine biology at the university of St. Andrews, which let me realise my passion lay with the fascinating (and complicated) lives of coral. I did my PhD in coral and algal biology at the university of Essex before moving to the states to study coral bleaching at the university of Delaware. I then moved back to Scotland to study cold-water corals at Heriot-Watt university, before moving to the university of Edinburgh to research and teach about tropical and cold water corals.

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