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Over the past year, we have released new software that enables multi-dimensional annual growth measurements on both corals (sclerochronology) and trees (dendrochronology). The software features easy-to-use tools in a graphical user interface (GUI), as well as automated ring/band detection and tracing. Perhaps most importantly, the software applications are linked to cloud-based repositories that store not only the raw image datasets but also user interpretations of the images. Together, this offers a key advance for data sharing and transparency in the fields, bringing them in line with the FAIR principles. The coral software is called CoralCT and its repository is called CoralCache. Publications describing the system can be found here: https://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lom3.10661 and here: https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/18/3341/2026/ The tree software is called TreeTracer and its repository is called TreeTrove. Both are described in a pre-print here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6767880 
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The Reef Lab recently acquired two major sources of funding for our new drone-based research projects. The NSF Physical Oceanography Program is funding a project to use aerial Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) to study water flow over coral reefs. The idea is to combine in-water measurements of water velocities and pressure gradients with LiDAR bathymetry to "back out" the friction term in hydrodynamic momentum equations. We are collecting these data across a range of reefs worldwide to develop new algorithms for estimating bottom roughness. This work is led by Ph.D. student Brooke Rodriguez. Louisiana Sea Grant is funding a project investigating the characteristics of restored oyster reefs that lead to successful ecosystem outcomes. We are using aerial LiDAR on a variety of restored oyster reefs across Louisiana, combined with wave measurements to identify the effects of the reefs on wave attenuation, marsh stabilization, and overall coastline-reef erosion or accretion. This project is led by Ph.D. student Avi Strange.  At the end of the Spring 2026 semester, undergraduate students Claudia Miller and Terese (Tess) Padon successfully defended their honors theses on research they conducted in The Reef Lab. Claudia’s project focused on drone-based LiDAR data collected on a restored oyster reef in Cocodrie, LA. Tess’ thesis project focused on integrating global in situ coral reef temperature data with high-resolution habitat maps. After graduation, Claudia will attend ETH Zurich for a masters in Earth Science and Tess will be working as an environmental consultant throughout the Gulf South. Congratulations to both Claudia and Tess on successful defenses!  The Reef Lab is excited to share that first-year PhD student Avi Strange has received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) award, and fellow first-year PhD student Angela Larson received an Honorable Mention for their applications. The NSF GRFP is one of the nation’s most competitive graduate fellowships, supporting outstanding students pursuing research-based graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Avi’s proposed research focuses on using drone-based LiDAR and field observations to study how restored oyster reefs influence shoreline stability and coastal erosion in Louisiana. Angela’s proposed research is centered around statistical modeling on coral reef ecosystems to improve global coral bleaching predictions utilizing the Reef Lab's data product Coral Reef In Situ Product (CRISP). We are incredibly proud of both Avi and Angela for this recognition and look forward to seeing their future research contributions at Tulane and beyond.
This past school year, PhD students Angela, Avi, and Brooke visited eight local New Orleans schools to teach students about coral and how it grows its skeleton. Each visit included a hands-on craft activity where kids built their own coral polyp and skeleton to understand how coral grows. These activities and participation were in conjunction with Tulane’s Center for K-12 STEM education.
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