Grace’s FACS Project

Our newest Ph.D student onboard, Grace Snyder, is working on a project that involves the separation of cell populations from Pocillopora damicornis tissues. This process allows her to distinguish the gene expression between different cell types via fluorescent tags. From here, Grace will map the RNA profiles of each cell type under heat stress and immune stress. Implications of this project include a better understanding of coral’s innate responses to elevated sea temperatures in the face of #climatechange.