SECORE International: Breeding our Future Coral Generations

717 General Booth Boulevard,Virginia Beach VA 23451

19 April, 2023

Description

Join us for an evening with Dr. Valérie F. Chamberland, a Research Scientist at SECORE International, a leading institution in the field of research, technology development and the implementation of new restoration methods for coral reefs. Her research aims to better understand corals during their earliest and most vulnerable life stages, with a particular focus on identifying conditions under which they will survive, grow, and thrive. The Watts Conservation Speaker Series offers the citizens of Virginia Beach and beyond access to acclaimed experts—including, scientists, environmental writers, photographers, and others—who present on marine conservation and science-themed topics at no cost. These lectures/presentations helps achieve our mission to inspire conservation of the marine environment through education, research and sustainable practices Dr. Valérie F. Chamberland Image Credit: Paul Selvaggio Dr. Valérie F. Chamberland BiographyDr. Valérie F. Chamberland is a Research Scientist at SECORE International, a leading institution in the field of research, technology development and the implementation of new restoration methods for coral reefs (www.secore.org). Her research aims to better understand corals during their earliest and most vulnerable life stages, with a particular focus on identifying conditions under which they will survive, grow, and thrive. At SECORE, her findings are applied to optimize and scale up techniques that use coral offspring to repopulate reefs. Born in 1983, Québec City (Canada), Valérie found her passion for coral reef ecology in Guadeloupe where she pursued part of her undergraduate studies in Marine Biology and Oceanography. She now lives on the Dutch Caribbean Island of Curaçao, where she has been conducting coral breeding work for over 10 years. In 2018, she obtained a doctorate degree at the University of Amsterdam, in joint collaboration with SECORE and the CARMABI Marine Research Station. Her thesis “Environmental Drivers of Recruitment Success in Caribbean Corals: Applications to aid the Recovery of Threatened Coral Populations” underpins her current scientific aspirations at SECORE. Valérie is a well-established, mid-career scientist. She has co-authored more than 15 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and is a frequent speaker and lecturer on the global stage. Valérie’s recent speaking engagements include those at the 15th Annual Coral Reef Symposium and at the Reef Futures Conference. Valérie has further chaired the Coral Restoration Consortiums’ Larval Propagation Working Group for 5 years, during which she helped create a platform where restoration scientists and practitioners can freely exchange critical knowledge and engage in new collaborations, therein building the much needed capacity to advance this field fast enough to address the rapid decline of coral reefs.