Earth Day Special Presentation
A conversation led by postdoctoral research associate Allyson DeMerlis follows the film. Tickets are just $8!
With & Without: A Coral Story explores what life can and will look like without coral reefs. Told through the words of leading scientists, the film examines Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease. From its controversial origins in 2014 to the present day, scientists are still working to understand what this disease is and how to stop it. At the heart of the issue is human impact. Without significant changes to everyday life and corporate cooperation, we risk losing one of the most important animals on Earth—coral.
This event is made possible through collaboration between the Coral Gables Art Cinema; the Coral Gables Office of Parking, Sustainability, and Mobility; and Green U at the University of Miami.
Allyson DeMerlis is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Lirman’s Coral Restoration and Benthic Ecology Laboratory. She received her PhD in Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School for Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and with NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in 2024.
Her dissertation investigated the molecular mechanisms of enhancing coral resilience to heat stress through laboratory and field-based experiments and utilized coral species important for restoration efforts in Florida, including the critically endangered staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis. Prior to her PhD work, she worked as a research intern at Mote Marine Laboratory on Summerland Key, working in coral disease and reproduction.
She is excited to apply her skills to Dr. Lirman’s restoration efforts in South Florida and study methods to increase heat tolerance of different coral species that are propagated and outplanted by his research group and citizen science program.
| Distributor: | Walker Wildlife Films |
| Country: | U.S. |
| Release Year: | 2024 |
| Runtime: | 102 |
| Director: | Derick Lozano-Walker |
| Rating: | Not Rated |
| Language: | English |
| Format: | DCP |
