Assistant Professor of Biology Kathryn Sutherland has been awarded a grant from the “Protect Our Reefs” program to explore the role of water quality – specifically infectivity and disease causation of a coral pathogen isolated from human sewage – on coral reef health in the Florida Keys.

This one-year grant, which is funded by the sale of coral reef specialty license plates and administered by Mote Marine Laboratory, will allow Sutherland and her students to collaborate with the Mote Tropical Research Laboratory, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and the University of Georgia to identify and understand the factors that are driving the emergence and maintenance of coral epizootics, which is critical to protecting the remaining coral reefs in Florida.