PICRC CEO and Researchers Attend CORALADAPT Workshop in Manila

Since March 2024, the Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) has been collaborating on CORALADAPT, a three-year research project funded by the Coral Research & Development Accelerator Platform (CORDAP), a G20 initiative supporting science and innovation to protect the world’s coral reefs. The project brings together researchers from PICRC, Newcastle University (UK), the University of Queensland (Australia), the University of the Philippines, and Palau’s Automated Land and Resource Information System (PALARIS) to explore how genetic and environmental factors affect coral tolerance to rising ocean temperatures. The goal of CORALADAPT is to deepen our understanding of how corals adapt to warming oceans and to develop practical tools and guidelines for coral restoration. 

From July 5 to 8, 2025, PICRC Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Roxanne Siual Blesam, joined researchers Dr. Cinzia Alessi and Daniel Cassidy at a four-day CORALADAPT Workshop on coral reef adaptation held in Manila, Philippines. They were joined by Dr. Yimnang Golbuu, Coral Resilience Director at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) for Micronesia and Polynesia and former CEO of PICRC. 

The workshop brought together 16 scientists and practitioners to share project progress, strengthen collective understanding of coral adaptation, and co-develop a Climate-Smart Rehabilitation Guideline to Enhance Reef Resilience. Once completed, this guide will serve as a resource for restoration practitioners on how to include adaptation to enhance corals tolerance to climate stress in their current practices. 

“This workshop provided an in-depth understanding of how climate change is affecting our corals and why it is vital to study their ability to adapt and survive,” said PICRC CEO Roxanne Siual Blesam. “It also reinforced the importance of working together with our partners to strengthen coral restoration and reef resilience in Palau while contributing to global efforts to protect our coral ecosystems.”

As part of the CORALADAPT, PICRC and its research partners are conducting experiments to estimate how much variation in key coral traits – such as growth, survival to marine heatwaves, and reproduction – is driven by genetics versus environmental conditions, and whether these traits are expressed consistently across different reef sites. This information is critical for guiding restoration practitioners in selecting the most suitable corals and locations to strengthen reef restoration and resilience. 

Experiments at PICRC have included testing genetic correlations among coral traits, variation of heat tolerance with colony size, and assessing fertilization success relative to coral spacing in the reef. The results will feed into predictive models to improve restoration planning in Palau and beyond.