Paige Sawyers

Ocean lover at heart, happiest when I’m surfing or finding quiet moments by the water to reset from the chaos of everyday life. I’m deeply passionate about protecting our environment, with a background in Environmental Science and Management, majoring in Biodiversity. My honours explored the Symbiodiniaceae-associated microbiome of coral ecosystems at Heron Island and Lord Howe Island, opening my eyes to the wonderful world of coral and helping shape the path that has led me to where I am today.

Supervised by: Tracy Ainsworth & Jonathon Daly

Project Title: Understanding the ecology and physiology of bleaching recovery in photo-endosymbiont corals within understudied reef systems

Project Description: Despite extensive research on the causes and patterns of coral bleaching, far less is known about what happens afterwards. How do coral reefs recover? How long does recovery take? And do different coral species recover at different rates?

My PhD aims to address these questions by investigating reef systems that are often overlooked in the scientific literature but may demonstrate important resilience. Combining fieldwork, laboratory-based molecular methods, and computational analysis, I examine how three different reef systems responded to the global mass bleaching event of 2024. This research aims to improve the understanding of coral recovery processes and highlight reef systems that may play a critical role in the future resilience of coral ecosystems.