Six big ideas for healthy oceans and sustainability

Six Stanford teams will research ambitious approaches to sustaining the ocean, from tracing plastic pollution to decolonizing governance of marine resources, supported by over $700,000 in funding from the Big Ideas for Oceans grant program. 

The seed grants are jointly awarded by the Oceans Department and the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, which are both in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. The funding enables researchers to generate new knowledge about marine life and pursue solutions that can sustain ocean health and support coastal communities.

“The goal of these grants is to empower research teams to take risks and go after ideas that have potential to generate breakthrough insights and new solutions for ocean health and sustainability,” said Oceans Department chair Fiorenza Micheli, the David and Lucile Packard Professor in Marine Science and co-director of the Center for Ocean Solutions. 

The world is on track to set new records in 2024 for sea temperatures and suffer a fourth global coral bleaching event. The Big Ideas for Oceans program, now in its second year, recognizes the urgency of global challenges like biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change and prioritizes projects focused on adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Last year’s inaugural awardees are working to develop new tabletop tools for observing marine life, low-cost tools for identifying heat-resistant corals, and more. This year’s grants will bring together marine biologists and oceanographers with chemists, social scientists, and medical scientists – an approach that reflects the Oceans Department’s commitment to include disciplines beyond traditional marine science when addressing ocean challenges. 

The Big Ideas for Oceans program, which provides grants of $10,000 to $150,000 for up to two years, is supported and administered by the Woods Institute for the Environment’s Environmental Venture Projects program. Learn more about the 2024 recipients below.

Decolonizing governance of ocean resources in the Chagos Archipelago

Rob Dunbar (Co-PI), W.M. Keck Professor, Professor of Oceans and of Earth System Science, and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Krish Seetah (Lead PI), Associate Professor of Oceans, of Environmental Social Sciences, and of Anthropology, and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment

About 1,000 miles south of the Indian subcontinent, over a thousand people are hoping to return to their home located in the Chagos Archipelago. In 1810, Chagos became an outlying territory of Mauritius, an island nation 1,300 miles southwest of the archipelago, when Britain captured Mauritius from France. Mauritius gained independence from British colonial rule in 1968, yet the sovereignty of Chagos has remained disputed. From 1968 to 1973, the British forcibly removed Chagossians from their homeland. Now, the Zoological Society of London and government officials from Mauritius are negotiating a marine resource management plan for Chagos as a first step to repatriation. Invited by the Ambassador of Mauritius to the United Nations, Krish Seetah, associate professor of oceans, of environmental social sciences, and of anthropology, will lead a working group focused on incorporating cultural knowledge and traditions into a new marine protected area. Professor of oceans and of Earth system science Rob Dunbar, who is also the W. M. Keck Professor, will support scientific exploration of the archipelago’s marine biodiversity. Dunbar and Seetah, who are both senior fellows at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, hope their natural and social science expertise can also inform the development of viable livelihoods for Chagossians, ranging from small-scale fishing to ecotourism. Dunbar and Seetah’s participation will support the decolonization of marine resources and center Indigenous peoples in ocean governance.

Defining the chemistry of coral mucus for reef restoration

Lynette Cegelski (PI), Professor of Chemistry and, by courtesy, of Chemical Engineering

Corals secrete a protective slime, or mucus, from their surface tissues. This mucus is home to thousands of different microbes and plays an important role in the coral’s immune system by shielding it from infection, among other benefits. Lynette Cegelski, professor of chemistry in the School of Humanities and Sciences, specializes in quantifying chemical structures – the atoms, molecules, and bonds that enable important chemical exchanges across cell walls. In collaboration with Steve Palumbi, a professor of oceans and of biology whose team has identified heat-resistant corals around the world, Cegelski will define the chemistry of coral mucus for heat-tolerant versus heat-sensitive species under different levels of heat stress. Cegelski and Palumbi, who is also the Jane and Marshall Steel Jr. Professor in Marine Sciences, hope to learn how bleaching affects mucus composition and, ultimately, the health of corals and the reef ecosystems they comprise.

Incorporating ocean acidification into K-12 education

Giulio De Leo (Lead PI), Professor of Oceans and of Earth System Science and, by courtesy, of Biology, and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment 
Fiorenza Micheli (Co-PI), David and Lucile Packard Professor of Marine Science, Professor of Oceans and,  by courtesy, of Biology, Co-director of the Center for Ocean Solutions, and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment

The ocean absorbs over one quarter of all carbon dioxide emissions caused by fossil fuel combustion. As a result, seawater becomes more acidic and threatens the survival of calcifying organisms like corals and oysters. However, K-12 students rarely learn about ocean acidification in the classroom. This project will develop a teaching module that leverages a popular gaming platform known as Minecraft to engage students in an immersive education experience. By virtually swimming in the Minecraft ocean, students will explore and describe how ecological communities change as seawater becomes more acidic. The simulation will draw from data collected by Fiorenza Micheli, professor of oceans, off the Italian island of Ischia, where she has spent nearly a decade researching deep-sea carbon dioxide vents. Students will learn to assess changes in the marine community and evaluate the potential impact on shell fisheries and ecotourism. Micheli and Giulio De Leo, professor of oceans and of Earth system science, will work with teachers to assess how well students retain knowledge of ocean acidification through Minecraft versus traditional teaching methods. Micheli and De Leo are also senior fellows at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.

Revealing the role of diverse bacteria in ocean productivity

Ellen Yeh (PI), Associate Professor of Pathology and of Microbiology and Immunology

Oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce over half the world’s oxygen thanks to tiny photosynthesizing algae floating at the surface. Like on land, nitrogen is a nutrient that all ocean life needs to grow. Bacteria can act as natural fertilizers by converting atmospheric nitrogen into more usable forms, a process known as nitrogen fixation, for marine organisms to use. Recent studies have revealed a greater diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria than predicted by previous models, even some that have taken permanent residence in marine algae to become full-fledged “nitroplast” structures within algal cells. Ellen Yeh, an associate professor of pathology and of microbiology and immunology in the School of Medicine, and team will apply new molecular technologies to investigate the interaction between a nitrogen-fixing bacteria and its photosynthetic algal host, and how that interaction affects marine productivity in Hawaii. This work will inform climate modeling, marine ecosystem resilience, and potential biotechnologies.

Testing how electrical current might rejuvenate marine organisms

Ayelet Voskoboynik (PI), Assistant Professor of Biology

Many marine species face an uncertain future as climate change warms and acidifies the ocean. Among them are a group of ancient invertebrates called tunicates, more commonly known as sea squirts, that carpet rocks and the undersides of boats and docks. These colorful, colony-building organisms have remarkable stem cells that can regenerate their entire body every week. This project will build upon previous research that found pulses of electrical current can result in long-lasting enhancements of individual Botryllus schlosserri tunicates’ lifespan and stem cell stores. Ayelet Voskoboynik, assistant professor of biology in the School of Humanities and Sciences, and team will now test whether electrical current treatment also improves the animal’s resistance to stressors like warmer and more acidic waters, potentially informing strategies of how to protect vulnerable marine species in the face of climate change.

Tracing the journey of microplastics at sea

Leif Thomas (PI), Professor of Earth System Science and, by courtesy, of Civil and Environmental Engineering and of Oceans

Despite the large amount of plastic waste that’s dumped into the oceans every year, relatively few tiny plastic pieces are found floating at the water’s surface. Leif Thomas, professor of Earth system science, and postdoctoral scholar Jinliang Liu will research why pieces under 5 millimeters, known as microplastics, disappear from the sea surface. Through advanced computer simulations, Thomas and Liu will trace the physical and biological processes that contribute to the transport of microplastics from surface to depth, especially where ocean currents converge and plastics accumulate. By illuminating distribution pathways, this project will take an essential step toward tackling marine plastic pollution.