Workshops

Workshops will be held on Day 3 of the Symposium (21 June 2023). If you are interested to attend a workshop, please select your preferred workshop when registering for the Symposium. Note that the selection of participants to join the workshops will be decided by the workshop chairs.

Yoko Nozawa, Academia Sinica, Taiwan

Vianney Denis, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
A comprehensive assessment of the ongoing changes affecting coral reef communities across latitudes requires long-term and transboundary initiatives. Yet, the establishment of such an international partnership is challenged by inconsistencies in the scientific objectives and in the protocols employed among research teams. This workshop aims to reach a consensus and establish an international network of researchers interested in a comprehensive and long-term assessment of coral reef communities across the West Pacific region. Specifically, this workshop will take advantage of emerging technologies such as the 3D-photogrammetry method and the TagLab software in order to establish a long-term ecological research network. Divided into four sections, this workshop aims to: (1) Identify ecological questions we want to answer through this collaborative network; (2) Establish a standard operating procedure for field data collection and analysis; (3) Select relevant metrics to interpret long-term changes and answer ecological questions; (4) Decide of locations and define an agenda. (Up to 30 participants; estimated 3 hours)
Kshitij Tandon, University of Melbourne, Australia

Claudia Pogoreutz, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland

Ryan McMinds, University of South Florida, USA

Helena D. Villela, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia

Neus Garcias Bonet, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia

Anna Roik, University of Oldenburg, Germany
Microbiome-based interventions have been successfully applied in clinical and in food production applications, ranging from treatment of human disease to increasing crop productivity and stress tolerance. Also, in terrestrial ecosystems, first emerging microbiome-based strategies are underway to mitigate major ecosystem disruptions. Most recently, such strategies have been suggested as an effective solution to the coral reef crisis aiming to help corals to endure the consequences of ocean warming. Reef-building corals are complex holobionts consisting of the animal host, algal symbionts, and a diversity of prokaryotic and micro-eukaryotic microbes. A thorough understanding of microbial roles will be the centrepiece of successful microbiome-based interventions. While our understanding of the diversity and dynamics of the microbiome in health, stress, and disease has been steadily growing, we have barely scraped the surface of functions and inter-kingdom interactions. In this workshop, we anticipate forming a cross-disciplinary team of authors, brainstorming innovative, cutting-edge ideas for future microbiome manipulation experiments, and drafting an outline for a perspective paper, “Using direct microbiome manipulation to understand causal roles of microbes in the health and stress resistance of corals”, in which we will synthesise and suggest powerful approaches to tackle this mission. The workshop will be offered in hybrid format and we welcome online participation to accomodate participants in the case of travel limitations. (Up to 30 participants; estimated 3.5 hours)
Shinta Pardede, Wildlife Conservation Society

Amkieltiela, Yayasan PADMI Mandiri
MERMAID: a hands-on introduction to a Cloud platform for coral reef monitoring data. Bring your laptops, get started with your first MERMAID project, and say goodbye to Excel! MERMAID (Marine Ecological Research Management AID - https://datamermaid.org/) helps you collect coral reef and fish data offline, then securely validate and store data online, ensuring clean, standardized data and eliminating the need for expensive data cleaning. In this workshop we will: review the MERMAID rationale and workflows; create an account and set up a dummy project shared with your team; go offline and collect fish belt and benthic PIT transect data; validate and submit; access the results on the MERMAID dashboard and using the mermaidr R package; get a sneak peek at upcoming features. (Up to 30 participants with personal laptops; estimated 2 hours)
National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS) has funded bold, transformative work in the ocean space and created a large community of National Geographic Explorers– changemakers from around the world working to support our mission to illuminate and protect the wonder of our planet. In association with the 2023 Asia-Pacific Coral Reef Symposium, the National Geographic Society will conduct a half-day grant writing workshop on June 21, which will provide participants the opportunity to receive information about developing a competitive NGS grant application within our Oceans focus area, and will have the opportunity to practice these skills in an highly-interactive and collaborative environment. The in-person training will also be supplemented with virtual activities before and after the workshop. Academic and/or conservation professionals who are working to improve our understanding and conservation of marine and coastal ecosystems, and empowering others to protect the ocean are encouraged to apply. We will prioritize applicants who are early career professionals (including graduate students and NGO professionals), and who are from/in an Asia-region country. While we are open to those working across a variety of oceans-related scientific research or conservation projects, we will prioritize applicants who are: not working on single-species research or conservation outcomes, but rather the study, management, conservation and/or restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems; not primarily focused on anthropological or sociological investigations of communities in coastal areas, or underwater archaeological research; aiming to achieve local, regional, and/or global impact by prioritizing leadership by, and/or partnership with, local communities and organizations. (Up to 25 participants)
Siti Maryam Yaakub, DHI, Singapore

Jillian Ooi, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia

Tan Yi Mei, Deakin University, Australia

Emma Jackson, Central Queensland University, Australia
Following the first meeting of the Southeast Asia Seagrass Network (SEASeagrass) during ISBW13 (2018), this workshop aims to strengthen regional collaboration in seagrass research and conservation through achieving the following goals: 1) Research mapping and an update knowledge gaps within SEA seagrass science (from Fortes et al., 2018) 2) Connecting with other regional & global seagrass restoration networks, consolidating seagrass restoration knowledge in the region, and working towards best practices for tropical species 3) Discussion for goals and activities at the next SEASeagrass workshop (likely at ISBW15 in 2024) The outputs from this workshop would include a resource portal to connect seagrass researchers across SE Asia, and database of seagrass restoration works in the region. To facilitate timely outcomes from the workshop, attendees will be required to fill in a questionnaire on the seagrass work they have carried out to date (to be sent out before the start of APCRS). We also encourage participants attending this workshop to sign up for the seagrass field trip that will be organised for the morning before this workshop. (Up to 30 participants; estimated 4 hours)
Audrey Tan, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Woo Qiyun, The Weird and Wild, Singapore

Dorcas @earthtodorcas

Kong Man Jing @justkeepthinkingsg
With misinformation spreading rapidly in this digital age, it is critical for scientists to be able to communicate their own research and the significance of their work. In this workshop, hear from three scicomm practitioners on various communication strategies, including tips on how to work with journalists, and how scientists themselves can leverage social media platforms and free digital tools to highlight their research. (Up to 20 participants with personal laptops; estimated 2 hours)
Nathan Fedrizzi, Pew Marine Fellows Program

Mei Lin Neo, National University of Singapore, Singapore
The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation awards fellowships annually to mid-career scientists and other experts from around the globe working to find solutions to pressing ocean conservation challenges. Each fellow receives funding for a three-year research project that produces new data, knowledge, or methods to advance the protection and sustainable use of the world’s marine resources and joins an international network of marine conservation experts. The program enhances the leadership capacity of fellows, supports conservation outreach, promotes science education, and informs policy decision-making. This workshop will introduce the program and its mission, followed by a research showcase by five fellows working on Pew-supported projects across the Asia-Pacific region. Speakers will share research to improve restoration practices for coral reefs and seagrass meadows, conserve giant clam populations across Southeast Asia, and strengthen protections for sharks in Indonesia. Following a series of short presentations, speakers will participate in a panel discussion and Q&A with attendees. (Up to 30 participants; estimated 2 hours)
Gabriella Church, FFI

Matt Glue, FFI

Zau Lunn, FFI
In this workshop we intend to share case studies and ask pertinent questions around what are strategies for effective MPA management, which is critical to the conservation of any coral reefs within MPA boundaries. Some questions to be discussed in a series of breakout groups could include: 1) How can we meaningfully engage local communities in MPA governance and management, including through sustainable livelihood support?; 2) How can MPA rules and regulations be effectively enforced?; 3) How can we monitor the impact of MPA management on coral reefs, other marine biodiversity/habitats and local livelihoods and well-being?; 4) How can we ensure that ongoing MPA management is sustainably financed? (Up to 30 participants; estimated 3 hours)
Celina Harris, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Madyson Miller, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030 (Ocean Decade) is a global cooperative program to expand scientific, social, and economic partnerships to support sustainable development and management of our coasts and ocean. This town hall will help connect coral reef conservation and restoration practitioners and the Ocean Decade by showcasing how they can leverage the unique opportunity for an unprecedented level of collaboration for innovation and transformational change that the Ocean Decade presents. We envision that the panel discussion will allow APCRS attendees to walk away with an understanding of the Ocean Decade and how it directly connects to their research, outreach, and management, whether in their local community or on an international scale. We aim for the session to highlight how the goals and priorities of the Ocean Decade align with the APCRS goal to forge greater cooperation and collaboration to preserve our common marine natural heritage in the Asia Pacific region. (Up to 30 participants; estimated 1.5 hours)
Youna Lyons, National University of Singapore, Singapore
This workshop will consider several areas of Ocean Law and Policy to provide guidance on the way they may be leveraged by the scientific community and marine conservation managers. It will include a discussion of the rules relating to (i) the establishment of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Area-Based Management Tools (ABMTs), (ii) the protection of sensitive and endangered species and their habitat, (iii) transboundary, shared and migratory fisheries species; (iv) the sampling for marine plastics and (v) the protection of blue carbon systems. This discussion will focus on Southeast Asia and the science to law interface for policy-making with the aim of providing tools to enhance and support better protection of the marine environment in the region.
Naneng Setiasih, Reef Check Foundation, Indonesia

Karenne Tun, National Parks Board, Singapore
Environmental challenges are increasing rapidly. There is a need to gather information and study cases, including from the local community. We will run a presentation skill workshop before their sessions to support them in presenting their cases. The workshop will gather professionals to help the community extract and present the information. The workshop will consist of a series of interactive class lectures and practices as well as tutorials and close mentoring in preparing their sessions presentation. The workshop will be held for one whole day. The tutorial and close mentoring can be followed-up until the presentation time. Translation will be provided. (Up to 20 participants; full day)