Fragmented Plastics & Soft Tissue Coral Health

In today's episode I am joined by Makayla Ward, an undergraduate zoological sciences student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale whose research explores how environmental stressors affect aquatic ecosystems. Growing up in a small town in Arkansas, far from the ocean, her curiosity about the unknown world beneath the water led her into marine and freshwater research. Makayla has worked in the Harmful Algal Bloom Lab studying the impacts of toxic cyanobacteria on freshwater food webs, and she conducted an independent research project examining how fragmented plastic pollution affects coral health, using a rare soft coral species from Japan. Alongside her research, she has gained hands-on experience in fisheries science, aquaculture systems, and science outreach as the first Women in Ocean Science Ambassador at her university, where she helps connect students with marine research and conservation.