Team Porites online

It's not every day that I pop out of bed and make it to work before 8 am, but yesterday, I was super motivated. I had an 8 am meeting with Team Porites. 

"Hang on, let me get a picture!" - Sarah Davies

That's right, we got all of us online at the same time! It was 8 am in Massachusetts, 2 pm in Europe, and 9 pm in Palau - the only time that all of us could be reasonably expected to be awake and mentally functional. I'm so glad we were able to make it work. 

Since parting ways in Palau at the end of May, each member of the team has been working on their own set of samples and data. Matthew shared updates on the paper he's writing about spawning in Porites lobata, and I was super excited to hear about his progress. "The spawning paper," as we've started calling it, reports our observations of P. lobata spawning in Palau, describes the larval development, and lays the foundation for future studies on this common species. We even decided to include histological sections from the adults. We took tissue chips in 2022 that Sarah's student, JK, processed and sectioned. I'm really glad that we can include the histology data and produce such a well-rounded paper. 

One by one, we shared updates on our progress. Cas described the DNA and RNA extractions he's been doing with the help of undergrads; Maikani told us about some technological challenges she had in image analysis (but she still finished the dataset!); and I reported on my efforts to develop an easier way to identify corals to lineage. It was great to catch up with everyone's work. 

My favorite thing about Team Porites is the supportive, collaborative way we work together. Some team members shared life updates in the meeting, and I was really excited to hear about their next steps. Honestly, as much as I love the science we're doing, it's the team dynamic that's most important to me. If we publish zero papers, but everyone works well together and gets to the next step in their career, I will consider it a win. 

It was a warm and happy morning online with Team Porites. Definitely worth waking up for.