This course is designed to guide students to learn about the organic matters in coral reef environment with a focus on the relatively overlooked dissolved organic matter. Coral reef ecosystem is highly productive and hosts a diverse community. To evaluate the sustainability of a reef ecosystem, we need to elucidate details on the organic nutrient cycling and thus such a research topic is emerging. During this course, we will go through recent discoveries on the biogeochemistry of the organic matter in reef waters around the world. We will also provide case studies to help students acquire analytical methods for characterizing organic matter. If funding is available, we will collect reef waters for hands-on practices. We will also conduct subsequent data analysis and interpretation to the environmental issues.
Each week, the course will start by me giving a brief introduction to the assigned topic. We will then spend 40 mins discussing recent published research papers relevant to the topic and another 30-40 mins to compile the data from the published research papers. We will then make our own data analysis and interpretations. Students will be required to write a minimum of five-page final report on reviewing or research report of related topics about coral reef organic geochemistry.