From Junkyard to Coral Research: An interview with Assistant Professor Dr. Sarah Davies
BY MARGAUX MONFARED
Dr. Sarah Davies, an assistant professor at Boston University utilises molecular techniques to understand how reef-building corals adapt and respond to climate change. Her lab, ‘The Davies Marine Population Genomics Lab’, seeks to understand precisely how and why these responses occur. To date, Dr. Davies has over 30 publications and is an inspiring woman in her field. Continue below as she reveals her journey from junkyard to assistant professor.
Dr. Sarah Davies by Cydney Scott for Boston University Photography
Hey! Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m a first generation college graduate from Vernon, BC, Canada. I grew up on a junkyard with three brothers. I always loved the ocean so when it came time to go to college, I attended the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island. I spent time diving off the coast and then taking courses and working at the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. I took a few years off after college working on whale watching boats as a naturalist and then as a scuba diving/sailing instructor in the British Virgin Islands. Eventually I ended up doing a Masters of Science at the University of Calgary studying the influence of herbivores on coral recruitment at the Flower Garden Banks. It was an amazing opportunity to dive on one of the most incredible reefs in the world. I actually still maintain a research presence there. From there I did my PhD at the University of Texas at Austin and I worked on diverse reefs across Micronesia, French Polynesia and the Great Barrier Reef. After receiving my doctorate, I started my postdoc at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where I studied reefs in Florida, Belize and Panama. Now as an Assistant Professor at Boston University, my lab largely focuses on cnidarian symbioses and how they respond to climate change. I’m also a mom of two amazing daughters with my partner Matt and their names are Kingsley (3 years) and Kennedy (10 months). We are looking forward to sharing the marine environment with them as they grow up.
You’ve built your life around the ocean. What drew you to it in the first place?
I grew up landlocked, but my grandma lived in Vancouver and whenever we would go to visit her we would go to the Vancouver Aquarium and play around on the beaches. It was always such a fun trip. Scientifically, however, I think what drew me to coral research was learning about the phenomenon of coral spawning, which is where most corals on a reef reproduce on the same night once a year! What a crazy reproductive strategy!
Symbiosis originated from two Greek words meaning ‘with’ and ‘living’, therefore symbiosis refers to two organisms living together in a close relationship.
Your research focuses on climate change and how it affects symbiosis, can you explain how you use corals as a model system?
There are several reasons why corals are powerful research models. The first is that each coral is made up of genetically identical polyps, so you can cut up a coral colony and have the same individual represented across treatments (i.e. hot vs control). This is impossible in many systems (think of humans being cut into pieces for a study, it wouldn’t go over very well). This is really powerful because we are able to control genetic background. Secondly, our lab has started to focus on two facultatively symbiotic corals - these are corals that live naturally with and without their symbionts. One of these species actually lives way up here in MA! Because we can investigate how the same coral genetic background responds with and without their algal symbiont partner - these corals make very powerful models for disentangling the influence of symbiosis on how an organism responds to climate change stress. In most corals, this symbiotic relationship with their algal partner is obligatory (they can’t survive without their algae) and if they lose their partner (coral bleaching) they can die. However, these facultative symbiotic corals are just fine with or without their partners as long as we feed them.
How do you use population genetics and genomics for investigating corals and their symbiotic partners?
We use population genetics to estimate how much dispersal occurs between reefs. Because the majority of coral babies die in the plankton- we cannot track them directly. Therefore we use population genetics to estimate the potential for dispersal between habitats. We are specifically applying population genetics to coral range expansions, which are happening on some reefs (i.e. in Japan). We also leverage the power of transcriptomics a lot on our research - this is assaying what each gene in the coral’s genome is doing at the moment of sampling. For us, this is a great way to ask how a coral “feels” under stress and we often equate this to a blood draw in humans. This allows us to detect a lot of physiology that would be difficult to measure otherwise.
How do you think climate change will affect corals habitat range?
Climate change (mostly increases in temperature) will have different effects depending on the species of interest. In some species we are observing range contractions as local populations go extinct because the species is not able to cope with the rapidly changing environment. Other corals, like the ones we study in Japan, are actually increasing their ranges pole ward as temperatures warm. We think that these range expansions are largely limited by winter colds, so as winters get warmer, habitats become more accessible to subtropical coral species. So really, it is largely dependent on each reef and each species. It can be very difficult to predict because there are also interactions with other environmental parameters (oxygen, nutrients, light) and other biotic parameters (competition for space, rocky bottom etc).
How do you hope your voice and work as a marine educator will influence others?
It is difficult to find a balance to “do it all”, but I do find that my lab, as a group, has been very good at sharing our love and knowledge of corals with the public. Scholastically, we are involved in the Genetics Working Group of the Coral Restoration Consortium so we hope that much of what we are learning about coral genetics and genomics can be shared more broadly with marine managers through this outlet. On a personal level, I am always trying to share my research and passion for climate change advocacy with my family and friends (sometimes to no avail). I do seriously believe that as scientists we must become better at communicating the severity of climate change, not only the impacts it will have on coral, but also to humans more broadly because what we stand to lose is simply too great.
What has been your experience as a woman in ocean science?
I have found that ocean sciences are full of incredible women to look up to and women are actually represented well in my field. I have a group of early career women in my research area and we are always building each other up and asking for help when we need it. I have found that this network of female scientists is extremely supportive and open to newcomers ☺. Obviously there have been times where I have experienced inappropriate behaviour, however I think that my background growing up on a junkyard made me largely unaffected by this behaviour.
Who or what do you draw your inspiration from?
I draw my inspiration from my students and their exciting ideas and passion for science, from my colleagues who are continually breaking glass ceilings and from my children who demonstrate a desire to learn and explore every day.
Whose work has influenced and inspired you?
I have been inspired by work from many people, but I think I have been most inspired by my lab mates during my PhD. Big name influencers include: Virginia Weis, Ruth Gates and Steve Palumbi.
Davies Lab!
What is one thing you wish someone had told you/taught you a long time ago?
I wish someone had told me that no matter how hard you work there would always be more to do. Science is a marathon, not a sprint and success really depends on hard work and perseverance, but also balance. I would be lying if I said that there were not some weeks where I work crazy hours just to stay afloat, but it is also ok to take time for yourself, your family and your hobbies.
Where do you go from here?
I’m really excited about several questions my lab is exploring right now: one related to thermal variability and its role in coral resilience, coral range expansion, and the role of symbiosis in the stress response. We are also beginning to explore the role of the microbiome, which has also led to some fun exploration of network science.
How has the recent COVID-19 pandemic affected (or not) you and your research?
We shut down our research lab back in early March and we have all been working from home. It has been very challenging to balance working from home full time and also parenting two small children, but we are lucky to have our jobs, our health and it is pretty fun hanging out with the girls all day (most of the time). Research-wise, a lot of our work is computational so we have been able to continue a lot of our research. We still have live corals in the lab and these are being maintained by two of my dedicated graduate students. Overall, I would say that I am running at about 40% of “old me”, but I think it is important to remember that anything we get accomplished during a pandemic should be celebrated, however small.
Dr. Davies Covid-19 distraction, baby Kennedy (10 months)!!