Working on a tiny, remote island in the middle of the Pacific has its benefits. I wouldn’t still be here after five years if I didn’t love living here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m now halfway through the spring semester at the College of Micronesia<\/a>, teaching CA100: Computer Literacy and SC117: Tropical Pacific Island Environments. The students and I especially enjoy SC117 because we take lots of field trips. We took two this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our first field trip was to Kosrae’s Aquaculture Center<\/a> where six species of giant clams are being bred. These clams are key species in reef ecosystems because they keep corals healthy. On our field trip, we learned that the tissues of giant clams contain Zooxanthellae<\/a>, an organism critical to both clams and coral. Although corals are subject to bleaching in the current climate crisis, giant clams aren’t affected by warming waters. Corals can recover from bleaching when ocean temperatures return to normal because clams release Zooxanthellae to rejuvenate the corals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n