Current JANUARY 2020 - CORAL REEF ALLIANCE
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CORAL current JANUARY 2020 CORAL REEF ALLIANCE
a
CHANGE IN
LEADERSHIP
A LETTER FROM DR. JOHN ANNER
I’ve got some big news for you. In January of last year, I had the
privilege of assuming the role of Chairman of the Board of the
Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL). Since then, it’s been my pleasure
to be part of CORAL through a busy and exciting time as we
celebrated the organization’s 25th anniversary, unveiled our
new Mission, Vision and Values, and published our signature
paper on coral adaptation in the journal Nature Climate Change.
I’m deeply pleased to see how CORAL has helped create a network of scientists, conservationists, governments
and communities seeking global solutions. By rallying these communities, CORAL is building alliances to achieve
lasting outcomes for coral reefs across the globe. This work places CORAL in the forefront of coral reef
conservation, and we have assembled a talented staff that will allow CORAL to reach new levels of success.
With this in mind, I want to let you know that, after eight years at CORAL, Dr. Michael Webster is stepping
down as Executive Director. He’s been offered an opportunity to conduct critical research on how life on
Earth can adapt to climate change. Fortunately, we had another terrific CORAL staff person ready to take
on the Executive Director role.
While these transitions are never easy, CORAL’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to promote Program
Director Dr. Madhavi Colton to Executive Director. Madhavi will take over the helm of CORAL beginning
February 1st. Over the seven years that Madhavi has been with CORAL, she has led the development and
implementation of new science-based conservation strategies that are improving coral reef health around the
world. She led the Program Department as the staff achieved impressive conservation program success, and
she has also played a key role in launching CORAL’s Modeling Adaptation Potential (MAP) project to help corals
adapt to climate change. I’m very excited to see how CORAL will reach new heights under her leadership, as
Madhavi’s deep understanding of coral adaptation furthers CORAL’s ability to translate its scientific work into
actionable management practices that save coral reefs across the planet.
Michael has led CORAL since 2011, and over his tenure he has put CORAL on a sustainable path financially,
strategically, and organizationally. Michael grew CORAL from an organization primarily focused on place-based
activities to one that turns activities into action with measurable outcomes that improve coral reef health.
He worked with Madhavi and other members of CORAL to create the concept of Adaptive Reefscapes as
a compelling and scientifically-proven strategy for coral reef survival. In the last few years, Michael guided
the creation of a 5-year plan that outlines how we can save the world’s coral reefs by establishing 45 Adaptive
Reefscapes by 2045. His leadership has prepared CORAL to meet this strategic target.
I speak for the Board when I say that we appreciate the thought and care that Michael and the rest of the
CORAL staff have put into this transition. This is an incredibly exciting time for CORAL, and we look forward
to another year of profound growth and achievements in coral reef conservation.
Adaptively yours,
John Anner, Ph.D. – Board Chair
2 CORAL CURRENT | JANUARY 2020 CORAL CURRENT | JANUARY 2020 3
LASTING LEGACY
“It has been an incredible privilege working
with you, as all of our achievements have
only been possible with your partnership
and support.” – Michael Webster
When I joined CORAL in 2011, the organization had just 13 employees and
an operating budget of $1.5 million dollars. Over the years, our small but
mighty team has grown to 30 employees, and our supporters have grown
in number to help us reach an operating budget of over $4 million dollars,
enabling us to do more to help save coral reefs. During this time, our growth
has been fueled by our drive to find ways that coral reefs can survive on a
global scale.
As I reflect on the last eight years, I’m proud of what
CORAL has accomplished and how we have risen
to the challenge that coral reefs are facing today. We
have scaled our work from a few sites to regional
programs that are designed to help coral reefs
adapt to climate change. For example, our work in
Honduras has expanded from one reef on one island,
to a regional network spanning most of Honduras’
coastline. In addition, we are now partnering with
organizations and communities to tackle overfishing
and water pollution across the Mesoamerican Region
(MAR), including projects in Guatemala, Belize, and
Mexico. Similarly, in Hawaiʻi, the impact of our work is It has been an incredible privilege working with you, as
reverberating through the state. Our work mitigating all of our achievements have only been possible with
sedimentation and improving water quality is providing your partnership and support. One of the best parts of
the clean water that baby corals need to be healthy my job has always been to hear from you about why
and adapt to climate change. you care about coral reefs and how you are choosing
to invest in their future. Your experiences and values
I’m impressed by how CORAL has advanced the are inspiring to me personally, and they’re an essential
understanding of how to save coral reefs as earth’s part of who CORAL is. Thank you for a memorable
climate continues to change. We have partnered eight years of inspiration.
with some of the best minds in science to identify a
solution for coral reefs: Adaptive Reefscapes, which CORAL’s future is bright. I know that Madhavi’s talent,
are networks of healthy reefs that collectively help knowledge and leadership will allow CORAL to flourish
corals adapt to a changing environment. We’re now and reach our vision- that the world’s coral reefs will
applying these ideas in our regional programs in have adapted to climate change because we acted
the MAR and Hawai’i, and are partnering with other swiftly. Please continue sharing your inspiring passion
organizations like The Nature Conservancy, to apply and support and know that together, we can rise to
these ideas in reefs at risk across the globe. the challenge and save coral reefs.
4 CORAL CURRENT | JANUARY 2020 CORAL CURRENT | JANUARY 2020 5
Plant a Tree, Save a Coral
Jen Vander Veur is fighting an uphill The uphill location of CORAL’s restoration projects tends to surprise is the wind rustling over fallow fields. Decades of commercial farming for CORAL’s monthly Watershed Restoration Day, where a team of volunteers
battle on the slopes of West Maui’s people, but what many people don’t realize is that what happens on sugarcane and pineapple leveled the forest and left a network of dirt roads plant native seedlings across abandoned roads to prevent erosion. So
mountains. Jen is CORAL’s Program land has a direct impact on the shoreline. During heavy rainfall, soil and that provide the ideal conditions for massive amounts of sediment to enter far, over 200 volunteers have planted approximately 8,000 plants that hold
Manager in Maui, and she’s leading contaminants in watersheds enter streams, travel downstream, and get streams and the ocean during rainstorms. the soil in place and reduce pollution for coral reefs downstream.
the charge on restoring Maui’s once- dumped directly into the ocean. Because ocean currents travel from
West Maui’s shores to the coastlines of neighboring islands, these Jen’s work isn’t easy. She’s trying to reverse the effects of decades This work comes at a critical time; Hawaiian reefs are currently
lush forest to stabilize the soil and
pollutants can end up on coral reefs near and far. of industrial agriculture by bringing back the forest. She’s also dealing experiencing a bleaching event from the warming waters of climate
protect coral reefs downstream from with modern-day challenges, like motorcyclists accidentally running change. But by providing clean water for coral reefs in Maui and across
being smothered by sediment. Jen’s work takes place in two The name Wahikuli means “the noisy place” in Hawaiian, named for the over saplings and monitoring equipment being stolen. the Hawaiian islands, we can help corals survive these bleaching events
watersheds of West Maui - Honokõwai and Wahikuli – that sound of rushing water and the loud birds that lived in the cava and and remain a part of Hawaiʻi’s rich landscape and culture.
were identified as “priority watersheds” by the National breadfruit trees. The forest of native plants once held the soil in place, Yet she and our team in Maui have made incredible progress, building
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). but now the trees, birds, and water are all gone, and the only sound left on years of research by local partners and working groups. Jen leads
6 CORAL CURRENT | JANUARY 2020 CORAL CURRENT | JANUARY 2020 7
A NEW
LEADER A LETTER FROM
DR. MADHAVI
COLTON
This is an exciting time for CORAL, and it’s pioneering research is launching a new era in reef conservation that
provides hope and solutions to save coral reefs.
an honor and a privilege to become CORAL’s
new Executive Director. Our work has never As CORAL’s Program Director, it’s been my privilege to lead our
been more important than it is now, as the dedicated field teams, develop cutting-edge scientific partnerships,
and bring our incredible work to a global audience. I’ve raised
harmful effects of climate change are being
awareness of our work at prestigious events like Boat International’s
felt around the world. CORAL is on the cusp Ocean Talks and led our staff to bring in game-changing grants
of incredible advancement with growing from organizations and governments like the German Development
regional programs and a new science-based Agency (GIZ), the Honda Marine Science Foundation and the
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
approach to coral conservation. It is thanks
We’ve also partnered with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to aid
to our dedicated staff, engaged Board of their coral conservation and restoration efforts in the Caribbean.
Directors, and supporters like you that we As you’ll read on the next page, partnerships like these are helping
will be able to achieve our mission to save us achieve our mission on a global scale. As our organization has
grown, I’ve made sure that our global presence and funding
the world’s coral reefs.
opportunities expand to keep pace with our programmatic work
Over the seven years that I have been at CORAL, I have had the so that we’re able to meet the increased needs of coral reefs
pleasure of working closely with our inspiring staff in Honduras, around the world.
Mexico, Hawai`i, Fiji and Indonesia. By collaborating with local
CORAL is in a very strong position due to Michael’s excellent
communities and partners, our staff are not just helping corals
leadership, our emerging scientific results, and the strong
survive, but are also creating the conditions that will help them
partnerships we have built with communities in our focal regions
adapt to the effects of climate change. In Honduras, for example,
and beyond. Our combination of community know-how and
we have measurably improved water quality in West End, Roatán,
scientific expertise perfectly positions us to achieve our mission.
creating the clean water conditions that corals need to thrive.
I’m excited to continue to grow CORAL’s work at both local and
We’re also leading the charge to reforest the slopes of West
global scales so that together, we can save the world’s coral reefs.
Maui’s mountains, stabilizing tons of soil that would otherwise
wash downstream and smother coral reefs. These achievements
help reefs and people in Roatán and Maui, and, importantly,
also demonstrate how to solve issues of water quality and land
restoration in ways that can be replicated around the world.
In addition to leading our field programs, I’ve also been working
in partnership with world-class researchers to improve our
understanding of how ecosystems adapt to the effects of climate
change. We are using the information from the Modeling Adaptation
Potential project to identify the actions that we can take today to
improve corals’ chance of survival for the future. As John mentioned
in his letter, we published our signature paper on coral adaptation
earlier this year in the journal Nature Climate Change, and this
8 CORAL CURRENT | JANUARY 2020 CORAL CURRENT | JANUARY 2020 9
Partnering for Change
by Dr. Madhavi Colton
I
n 2016, we at CORAL asked a critical question: What
can we do to help coral reefs adapt to the effects
of climate change? After four years of rigorous
research, I’m proud to share our initial results. First,
our science shows that corals can evolve to cope
with rising temperatures, providing hope for the future
of reefs. Second, we know how to help corals adapt
by acting quickly to implement smart conservation
strategies. These promising results are the first of many
that will help us save coral reefs around the world.
To arrive at these answers, Michael and I launched the Modeling
Adaptation Potential (MAP) Project, a working group of ecologists,
evolutionary biologists and conservation scientists. Our team didn’t
just want to know whether corals could adapt—we also wanted to
understand how we can help corals adapt to rising temperatures on
a global scale. We led the group made up of scientists from Rutgers
University, the University of Washington, the University of Queensland,
and Stanford University to analyze how different conservation solutions
perform through time. We did this by building a suite of sophisticated
mathematical models, and we published our first results in the scientific
journal Nature Climate Change in July 2019.
These results provide hope for coral reefs by showing that, with
the right approaches to conservation, we can help corals evolve
to endure rising temperatures. The paper also showed that some
popular conservation approaches, such as only protecting corals in
colder water, didn’t perform very well over time. Instead, we found
that protecting a diversity of reef types and temperatures was most
successful at promoting evolution to climate change. “We found that
a diversity of reef types provides the variety that evolution depends
on,” explained co-author Dr. Malin Pinsky at Rutgers University.
The paper also outlined conservation actions that can help corals
adapt, such as reducing local stressors like overfishing and water
pollution so that corals are healthier and better able to handle warmer
temperatures. Most importantly, the results of the study show that
we know enough to act—and with the effects of climate change only
increasing, we have little time to waste.
Today, we’re acting swiftly by leading the MAP Project team to
create actionable conservation guidelines that will be used around
the world. We recently hosted the MAP Science Advisory Group
meeting in Roatán, Honduras, where our team began to synthesize
research into regional coral reef management plans for the Caribbean,
Pacific, and Coral Triangle. CORAL is also partnering with The Nature
Conservancy’s Caribbean Program to determine where and how
to implement their coral restoration efforts to achieve their goal of
restoring one million corals across the Caribbean.
By partnering with scientists, conservation organizations and local reef
The MAP Project team recently
managers, we’re turning science into action to achieve our mission of
visited Cordelia Banks, Honduras to
saving the world’s coral reefs so that people and wildlife can enjoy reefs
conduct coral reef surveys and begin
for generations to come.
synthesizing research into actionable
conservation plans for the Caribbean.
10 CORAL CURRENT | JANUARY 2020CORAL’s Winter 2020 CORAL Current – Board, Staff and Council Listing
BOARD OF DIRECTORS CORAL SENIOR STAFF Sheyla Maldonado DEVELOPMENT TEAM CORAL INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL
ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE COORDINATOR,
John Anner Madhavi Colton MESOAMERICAN REGION Natalie Scarlata Tony Birdsey
BOARD CHAIR PH.D., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ASSOCIATE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Jennifer Myton Chrissie Bowen
William Kerr, Ph.D. Michael Webster ASSOCIATE PROGRAM DIRECTOR, Megan Crain
TREASURER PH.D., SENIOR ADVISOR MESOAMERICAN REGION DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS COORDINATOR Linda Cain
Elizabeth Wagner, Esq. Dory Gannes Pamela Ortega Daron Willison Joe Casale
SECRETARY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR PROGRAM MANAGER, MESOAMERICAN REGION DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Steve Cohen
Michael Bennett Rusty Kelly Erica Perez
MARKETING DIRECTOR PROGRAM MANAGER, HAWAIʻI MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS TEAM Sarah Freiermuth
Jeffrey Chanin
Danielle Knight Javier Pizaña-Alonso Yasmeen Smalley-Norman Cindy Glancy
Vani Keil FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION DIRECTOR PROGRAM MANAGER, MESOAMERICAN REGION MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
John Hauswirth
Aileen Lee Diana Sokolove Antonella Rivera
CONSERVATION PROGRAMS DIRECTOR PH.D., PRINCIPAL SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR, FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION TEAM Alex Kreston
Jim Lussier MESOAMERICAN REGION
Kristi Jones Jill Kreston
Kirby Ryan PROGRAM TEAM Julio San Martín Chicas ACCOUNTANT
PROGRAM COORDINATOR, MESOAMERICAN REGION Bradley Mart
Jim Tolonen Tanya Amaya Kehtzia León-Cervantes
PROGRAM MANAGER, MESOAMERICAN REGION Alicia Srinivas HUMAN RESOURCES AND OPERATIONS Donna Miller
Rob Watt ASSOCIATE PROGRAM MANAGER COORDINATOR
Paolo Guardiola Julian Osinski
PROGRAM COORDINATOR, MESOAMERICAN REGION Larissa Treese
PROGRAM COORDINATOR, HAWAIʻI Ruth Shapiro
Jos Hill
ASSOCIATE PROGRAM DIRECTOR, HAWAIʻI Jennifer Vander Veur Tom Schroeder
PROGRAM MANAGER, HAWAIʻI
CORAL MAIN OFFICE : Coral Reef Alliance, 1330 Broadway, Suite 600, Oakland, CA 94612, 1.888.CORAL.REEF @CoralReefAlliance @coral_org @coral_orgYou can also read
