Old Elizabethan academic and marine biologist Nick Jones has completed his PhD in Florida, awarded for his research into coral reefs.
His work on understanding the future prospects of the reefs has been presented at international conferences and published in international journals.
Nick (OE 1997–2004) now lectures at Florida’s Nova Southeastern University and mentors Master’s students, having made the USA his home.
“As a field-based researcher, much of my time is spent underwater and over the last few years I’ve been lucky to study coral reefs throughout Florida, in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands and Mexico,” he says.
After QE, Nick spent a gap year in Australia before returning to read Marine Biology at Southampton.
When he graduated, he was offered a scholarship to study coral reefs at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Science. This led to his working abroad for several years, studying coral reefs and sharks, before he returned to the UK to work for the Environment Agency.
In 2015, Nick decided to get back into academia and pursue his interest in coral reef ecosystems. “I enrolled in a Master’s at Nova Southeastern University, where my research focused on the impact of temperature on the coral reef communities. After completion, I decided to continue my research in Florida and undertake a PhD.
“I assessed how community dynamics and coral demographics (e.g., growth, recruitment, mortality rates) are influenced by global stressors (e.g., ocean warming, hurricane activity) and local anthropogenic pressures (e.g., nutrient pollution, increased sedimentation from coastal construction) to understand their recovery potential and viability under climate change.”
It is the results of this work that have been presented at conferences and published, including being featured in the National Climate Change Assessment produced by the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration .
“In addition to research, I give lectures in marine biology, community ecology and biostatistics, as well as mentoring multiple Master’s students, helping them with experimental design, technical writing and data analysis. I live in Hollywood, Florida, situated between Miami and Fort Lauderdale.”
He remains grateful to his teachers at QE who helped prepare him for his career.
- The main picture, top, shows Nick conducting an underwater survey in Florida. The laboratory shot shows him preparing a coral sample for an experiment, while the bottom photograph is Nick assessing a reef in Mexico.
Having already achieved significant successes in recent years at in-person regional, national and international Vex championships – including a world title in 2018 – QE’s robotics teams have recently added online competitions to their repertoire.
One VRC squad – team number 20785X – was named winner of both the Theme It Up! Challenge and the Community Challenge, as well as being a runner-up in the Career Readiness Challenge. Another, 20785C, took two runner-up spots.
The group flew to the resort of Panorama in British Columbia on a eight-day trip during which they were able to enjoy five days of “fantastic” skiing.
Their destination, Panorama Mountain Resort, which was founded as recently as 1962, is accessed by road from the town of Invermere, which is 11 miles away. It boasts one of the highest vertical drops in North America – some 1,300m.
Having ‘slope side’, or ‘ski in, ski out’, accommodation meant it was quick, safe and convenient for the boys. It also had the advantage of being next to the resort’s hot springs, offering skiers great scope for relaxation and recovery after a hard day’s physical activity.
The QE boys, who made up the only teams from outside North America to attend, enjoyed both the competition and the chance to take in Las Vegas’s spectacular attractions.
They then made their way along Vegas’s celebrated Strip. “One highlight in particular was The Venetian – a resort and hotel, which boasts an indoor network of Venice-style canals, complete with singing gondola drivers!” said Mr Noonan. Further down the street, they took in the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign and marvelled both at the water & light show at the fountain of the Bellagio and at the incredible complexity of the part-roller coaster, part-hotel New York New York attraction. “Racking up close to 30,000 steps over the course of the day was not enough, though, as the pupils made their way to the Area 15 entertainment complex, wondering at many of the audio-visual wonders on offer, and at the surreal Omega Mart [an exhibition billed as ‘an interactive, mind-bending immersive art experience’].”
After this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the boys returned to their robotics, making final preparations for the following day of qualification, as well as taking part in some impromptu practice sessions. “As the only overseas team at the event, the other 100 or so US, Canada and Mexico-based teams were very eager to get to know the QE teams, with lots of potential alliance links formed,” said Mr Noonan. They topped off the day with a visit to the “incredible” High Roller observation wheel at The LINQ Hotel – a 550ft wheel offering breath-taking views over the Strip.
After their disappointments on day 1, team HYBRID began day 2 still determined to finish in the automatic alliance spots in their division. “They succeeded in doing so, finishing the qualification section ranked 21st, and allying with team 3303S Dublin Robotics from Dublin, California,” said Mr Noonan. “They built up a great relationship with them through collaboration and discussion over the two days and were always likely to pick this team. Sadly, there was further disappointment for them, as they were cruelly denied by disqualification on a technicality in their round-of-16 game.”