The bleaching event and our research gains press attention

Yesterday Amy and Colleen were asked to participate in a media event about the coral bleaching event that was hosted by Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR)  We spoke to reporters about our work examining production of superoxide, the main oxygen radical thought responsible for bleaching, from the corals.  Our message to the  press included our gratitude to the DLNR and the scientists at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology for the logistical support and for involving us in a much larger frame of research surrounding the bleaching event.  We also explained why superoxide is so important to measure in conjunction to this bleaching event, the difficulties in measuring superoxide (it's lifespan is only a couple minutes!), and how our research may help scientists uncover the mechanisms involved in the disassociation between the corals and their algal symbionts.