Can “assisted evolution” save the world’s coral reefs?

April 11, 2016

YIBS board member Elizabeth Kolbert asks what it will take to save the world’s coral reefs and forests in the April 18, 2016 issue of The New Yorker.

She describes her experiences traveling with Dr. Ruth Gates, a marine biologist studying how human-mediated assisted evolution in corals may help bulk up their resilience to climate change and other threats that are driving the global decline in coral cover.

Read the full story at The New Yorker…

 

News & Updates

Back to the beach: Why did evolution return some animals to the water?

November 20, 2025
In most narratives, the story of evolution is the story of organisms emerging from the ocean and eventually populating the land. But for some species that evolution also...

YIBS postdocs illuminate new insights into river metabolism across the Western United States

November 14, 2025
A new Science study co-authored by YIBS researchers sheds light on the significant role that rivers in the western United States play in absorbing carbon dioxide from the...
Edward P. Bass Distinguished Lecture: "To know our trees" with W. John Kress

Edward P. Bass Distinguished Lecture: "To know our trees" with W. John Kress

November 5, 2025
Dear YIBS community, Please join us in attending the Edward P. Bass Distinguished Lecture: "To know our trees" with W. John Kress Date: Wednesday, November 5th from 5:00 - 6:...
More news...