Experimentally Evolving Heat-Tolerant Symbiotic Coral Algae for Democratic Implementation at Multiple Scales
Climate change has killed half of the world’s reef-building corals, and conservation efforts have largely failed due to marine heat waves that cause corals to lose their symbiotic algae through “bleaching.” We propose a novel and scalable reef intervention through two interrelated and interdisciplinary research streams: 1) evolving strains of symbiotic algae that are better equipped to resist heat stress; and 2) theorizing feasible democratic infrastructures for input, consent, and coordination related to engineered algae interventions at multiple scales (eg. local, regional, state, federal). By simultaneously confronting challenges associated with the scalability of our intervention that are both ecological (algae species, reef selection, monitoring strategies) and political (mechanisms for community deliberation, consent, and governance) in nature, our project offers a unique contribution to interdisciplinary debates over whether large-scale climate interventions are compatible with democratic values. Coral reefs are an ecosystem on the brink of extinction. To save them, we need to develop mutually-informed intervention technologies and feasible strategies for democratic implementation.
“We propose to evolve strains of symbiotic algae that are better equipped to resist heat stress and that, when incorporated into a coral symbiosis, will prevent bleaching at a large scale. At the same time, we will also theorize feasible democratic infrastructures for input, consent, and coordination around our proposed intervention. The goal is to launch both of these research streams together so that each can inform the other at multiple stages of the research process. Our project offers a unique contribution to debates over whether climate interventions can be carried out democratically by taking on these ecological and political challenges simultaneously.”
Magnus Ferguson, Collegiate Assistant Professor, Philosophy