Coral Reef Day 2020
A conservation education and international studies website.
How to use this site
Happy Coral Reef Day! You are currently on the Coral Reef Day homepage. Here, you can find a brief introduction to coral reefs and an explanation of this project's origins. The navigation bar on top of each page shows where you can go on the site.
The "Start Learning" tab is where you can hear directly from coral experts. They will speak to you about the role coral reefs play in ecosystems, the importance of coral conservation, and ways you can personally help conserve coral reefs.
The "Simulations" tab offers a chance for you to learn visually and interactively about the factors affecting corals.
The "Study Abroad" and "Gilman Scholarship" tabs provide a glimpse into my personal journey and how I was able to fund my education. Visit both to find out how you can achieve your own international education goals!
The "Extra Resources" tab gives you materials for additional coral reef information.
The "Forum" tab is for community discussion and resource sharing.
Lastly, please use the "Contact" tab to get in touch with me about Coral Reef Day!
What are coral reefs?
Coral reefs are marine, sessile animals that usually form a symbiotic relationship with algae called "zooxanthellae". Corals are made up of numerous individual organisms called polyps.
Corals are generally described as either hard corals (corals that build a calcium carbonate skeleton) or soft corals (corals that do not build a calcium carbonate skeleton).
Coral reefs support a notable percentage of marine life, provide coastal cities protection from tropical storms, and spur the global economy. Coral reefs are declining at alarming rates due to anthropogenic factors such as pollution, overfishing, global climate change, and more.
Our oceans would suffer greatly without coral reefs, as would terrestrial ecosystems. There are still things we can do to preserve and protect coral reefs. Coral Reef Day will hopefully provide you with the knowledge and resources to aid in this work, and to care about coral reefs.
Sourced from NOAA and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.
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Making Coral Reef Day
Hello and welcome to Coral Reef Day! My name is Brighid Welchans and I am a recent college graduate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
I have loved the sea and all the creatures which inhabit it since I was very young. I have shaped my professional life around marine conservation, and my passion for marine science led me to pursue a study abroad program at James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. This semester abroad would not have been possible without receiving the Gilman Scholarship.
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There is a required follow-on service project for Gilman recipients, and I knew I wanted my project to be creative and educational. I planned to bring back the knowledge I learned about coral reefs, as well as promote the impact studying abroad had on my life. These ideas culminated in Coral Reef Day. I originally planned to host Coral Reef Day at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for college students. With COVID-19, I adjusted my project to be completely online. This new formatting has brought many benefits, especially the widened reach!
I am so excited to be able to share Coral Reef Day with students and life-long learners across the country. Thank you for your interest and involvement in Coral Reef Day!
