An interview with Michelle Paddack, Ph.D.  By KATHERINE CURE, who is a coral reef researcher and field coordinator for the Oceanic Society in Belize.

A recent study showed declines in coral reef fish along the entire Caribbean. The study, which pooled data from over 300 reefs and 273 fish species, shows declines in both fish we catch and those we don’t. These falling species numbers are thought to be happening in response to massive declines in coral cover along the region since the 1970s.

The findings, by lead researcher Michelle Paddack, were published in this year’s April edition of Current Biology. Meta-analysis—the technique used—analyzes the result of multiple studies by pooling data. The methodology is a powerful tool for summarizing research done over long periods of time by multiple researchers. Paddack’s quest, which included visits to all major marine labs in the Caribbean, looked at surveys from 48 different projects, some dating back to 1955. Most data used was unpublished, and required digging—asking hundreds of researchers for their data, and pulling in collaborators like Peter Mumby and Ross Roberston, renowned researchers in the field of coral reef fish ecology. 

Read the entire interview at http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4799