Projects that harness the public to make observations and report data about the health of our environment are growing. Anyone can join—no PhDs needed.

Innovation for Good

Twenty-Four Ways to Turn Outdoor Passions Into Citizen Science

Heading into the new year, consider collecting scientific data while skiing, hiking, surfing, biking and partaking in other adventures

A small hike in the water temperature triggers corals to dispel the algae, causing them to bleach and turn a ghostly shade of white.

Some Corals Can Survive Through Relentless Heat Waves, Surprising Scientists

The organisms can recover during a heat wave instead of afterwards, and scientists call it a ‘game changer’ for conservation of the species

The study suggests that the island is built from sediment generated by the surrounding coral reef, such as from crushed up dead coral, weathered shells and dried-up microorganisms.

This Pacific Island Is Both Sinking and Growing

Sediment produced by surrounding coral reefs has helped Jeh Island outrace rising sea levels

Damselfish typically live in the nooks and crannies of coral reefs. But do you have anything with more of an open concept?

If a Fish Could Build Its Own Home, What Would It Look Like?

By exposing fish to experimental constructions, scientists hope to find out if replicating coral reefs is really the way to go

A team of scientists on board a research vessel were on a year-long expedition to map the seafloor surrounding Australia when they discovered the reef about 80 miles off the coast of Cape York, Queensland.

A Coral Reef Taller Than the Eiffel Tower Was Just Discovered Off the Coast of Australia

A team of scientists mapped the underwater landscape and its bustling sea life using a robot

Fish and corals on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Between a quarter and a third of all marine species spend some part of their life cycle in coral reefs.

New Research

Climate Change Has Killed Half of the Great Barrier Reef’s Corals

A new study finds corals on the Australian mega-reef declined 50 percent between 1995 and 2017

Artist Jason deCaires Taylor's “Ocean Siren” changes color according to the average daily water temperatures measured at Davies Reef on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Recently, marine heatwaves have wreaked havoc on the Great Barrier Reef, causing the most widespread bleaching ever recorded.

This Sculpture Takes the Great Barrier Reef’s Temperature

‘Ocean Siren’ changes colors in real time to reflect ocean temperatures at Davies Reef, part of Australia’s ailing Great Barrier Reef

An aggregation of roughly 64,000 green sea turtles at Raine Island in Australia.

Drone Footage Shows Thousands of Nesting Sea Turtles

The roughly 64,000 green sea turtles were photographed off the Great Barrier Reef in Australia at Raine Island, the turtle’s largest breeding ground

Dr. Frederieke Kroon looking at a crown-of-thorns starfish on the Great Barrier Reef.

New Research

What Eats the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish? The Evidence Is in the Poop

The sea creatures are the second-biggest threat to the Great Barrier Reef after tropical cyclones

A survey of 1,036 reefs in the Great Barrier Reef over the last two weeks of March revealed the most widespread bleaching event on record.

New Research

The Great Barrier Reef Is Now Facing Most Widespread Bleaching Event Yet

The severity of this year’s bleaching is second only to 2016, during which a third of the reef’s corals died

The Most Anticipated Museum Openings of 2020

Slated for this year are new institutions dedicated to ancient Egyptian, the Olympics, African American music and the Army

When the scientists played the sounds of healthy coral ecosystems at damaged reefs, 50 percent more species showed up than at quiet sites.

One Way to Lure Fish Back to Damaged Reefs? Play the Sounds of Living Coral

The find is fascinating, but can’t save these marine ecosystems by itself

By collecting images and GPS data from citizen divers, scientists can get a better sense of the health of the entire Great Barrier Reef.

Massive Citizen Science Effort Seeks to Survey the Entire Great Barrier Reef

Only about 1,000 of 3,000 individual reefs have been documented, but the Great Reef Census hopes to fill in the gaps

Three green sea turtles, Chelonia mydas, on a coral reef, Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Coral Reefs Face the Dual Threats of Ocean Acidification and Erosion

As coral tissues die off, the exposed calcified skeleton becomes vulnerable to organisms that eat away at the dying reefs

Divers participating in the Underwater Music Festival pretend to play musical instruments in the waters off of Big Pine Key, Florida.

Hitting the High Notes: A Smithsonian Year of Music

This Florida Music Festival Takes Place Completely Underwater

To draw attention to coral reef conservation, divers play ‘bass-oons’ and ‘trombonefish’ at the Underwater Music Festival in Key West

New Research

North Carolina’s Offshore Shipwrecks Have Surprising New Tenants—Tropical Fish

As species are pushed north by climate change, the reefs may serve as a refuge for tropical and sub-tropical fish

Trending Today

Month-Long Oil Spill in the Solomon Islands Threatens World’s Largest Coral Reef Atoll

Australia has stepped in to help contain the 600 tons of heavy fuel oil leaking from the transport that ran aground on Rennell Island early last month

A plume of sediment off the coast of Queensland after recent flooding.

Trending Today

Australia Allows One Million Tons of Sludge to Be Dumped on Great Barrier Reef

A loophole in Australian federal law allows dredging spoils from port maintenance to be dumped in the marine park

The Smithsonian's Mary Hagedorn and hundreds of colleagues collaborated on the project, which used cryopreserved elkhorn coral sperm to fertilize live eggs to create larvae.

To Help Corals Fight Back, Scientists Are Breeding Populations Separated by Hundreds of Miles

A new study demonstrates that assisted reproduction using cryopreserved sperm leads to offspring that might be more resilient in the face of climate change

A sea turtle swimming by bleached corals of the Great Barrier Reef near Heron Island off the east coast of Australia.

Coral Larvae Cryogenically Frozen and Thawed for the First Time

Warming oceans are killing the world’s reefs, but scientists may have found a way to help them get out of hot water—by putting corals into a deep freeze

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