Born amidst salt and sea

Chief Investigator, PhD candidate and science communicator at QUT, Australia. I am attempting to better understand coral physiology in response to climate related stress. We hope to establish better baselines for coral reef management and reclamation strategies.

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Green flecks in an Trachyphyllia coral tissues are just some of the many algal cells living with-in. The white domes on the tentacles are primarily made up of stinging cells used for capturing and enveloping prey. 

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Through fluorescence microscopy, we can view the coral polyp (blue) and the symbiotic algae that the coral hosts (yellow/orange dots). You can see the ‘chains’ of algae living inside the interlocking tissue between the polyps. Kind of looks like a dinosaur footprint... right? 

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Coral reefs are beautiful, and under threat. Help protect them for every generation to enjoy, not just those generations that have already exploited them.

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You have some stunning photography on here, do you take these yourself?

Hi! Why thank you, yes I do take them myself!Everything you see here is my own work. Mostly excess from my research. 

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Snowing eggs and plankton falling from the water column; (Fungia sp) this coral uses a layer of mucous located on the surface of its tissue, as a sort of ‘conveyor belt’ to transport trapped food directly into it’s stomach.

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“Enhance!” Ever thought to yourself “I need more glowing tentacles from the oceans depths in my life?”. Well, you’re in luck. These are the tentacles of Scolymia (coral) that have come out during the darkness for feeding. As many of you already know, coral bleaching is a massive global issue, and with sea surface temperatures continuing to rise is most likely (hopefully not) going to worsen. Bleaching is the removal of it’s algal best friends (symbionts) from it’s tissue. Now, if you look closer at the tentacles in the second ‘CSI enhanced shot’, the tiny black specks you can see, plotted all over the tissue of the tentacles, are those exact symbionts critical for photic coral survival. 

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Coral bleaching is killing reefs. Is the answer a great migration?

Coral bleaching threatens a third of the planet's reef ecosystems, but can these creatures adapt? Take a voyage deep into the Atlantic Ocean, as the Nekton Mission searches for an answer.

Was interviewed about our research by PBS in the United States. 

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This is a tiny, solitary coral know as Cycloseris. By solitary we mean he only has one polyp instead of the colony of polyps that make up most corals. Also, I may say tiny (about 25 mm), but when compared to other polyps he is absolutely massive. 

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Catalyst on Twitter

“Tonight 8pm @ABCcatalyst: In a warming world, reefs and their marine life are on the frontline. #GreatBarrierReef @BrettM_Lewis @ABCTV https://t.co/GlRmePfVCi”

My videos and I will be in an episode of ABC’s Catalyst here in Australia! They even used me in the promo, super stoked.

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Close look at coral fluorescence, and how the polyps (the things with tentacles) retract back into the coralite for protection.

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Watch Terrifying Video of Coral Convulsing as Seas Heat Up

For the first time, time-lapse footage reveals the nightmarish horror of the heat-induced behavior known as bleaching.

So stoked to be in a National Geographic write up!

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What it’s like to be a polyp living on the surface of a coral strong in red fluorescing proteins. You can even see the ‘cracks’ where the tissue an skeleton have been damaged in transport. 

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Our brand new paper showing coral bleaching using pulsed inflation during thermal stress! First time it’s been captured on film.

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Why do corals pulse?? Well, our research hope to expand on this behaviour, and give insight into the possible functions it may serve. 

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Coral tissue is a lot more active than our eyes can make out. This is why we use time lapse microscopy to check out just how dynamic these guys are, and how they respond to different events, like food, storms, higher temperatures etc. The green part is the polyp mouth, and surrounding it are the animals toxic, prey snaring tentacles.   

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Instagram video by Totally Wild 🐨🐳🏀🏄🏻 • Jul 20, 2016 at 4:08am UTC

See this Instagram video by @totallywildtv • 11 likes

Made my national TV debut! So go easy. Spent a great day with the Totally Wild crew filming, discussing my videos, research, and talking all things coral. This is a snippet of the segment. I didn’t know what to do with my hands.