Achievement

Our IGERT has for two years now organized and hosted an international transdisciplinary symposium. This year senior IGERT fellows were able to mentor new IGERT fellows and trainees in presenting this symposium. The first year of this symposium saw collaborations form between faculty and students from here and in Australia. The major result of this collaboration was realized at this year’s symposium were the Meta-data analysis and writing efforts on coral reef degradation and human health finally nucleated into a synthesis manuscript. This experience was challenging to the participants and required interaction between at least ten different faculty and students from Australia to the East Coast of the US. Finally, the symposium is teaching our fellows the challenges of using a transdisciplinary approach with participants accustomed to traditional insular practices.