Coral Skeletons as Indicators of Environmental Stress
Academic Research OpportunityA geoscience student research project using coral skeletons as evidence of environmental stress. The project (German: Korallenskelette als Indikatoren von Umweltstress) examines coral skeletons of tropical origin that were taken from the sea over recent decades and centuries at various sites (for example Cuba) and kept since then. The main goal is to identify and analyse unusual growth characteristics and other possible stress signatures in the coral skeletons, especially stress signals that arose before the systematic onset of anthropogenic environmental change. The research project is located at Freie Universität Berlin in the Geology department (Geologische Wissenschaften), with a planned cooperation with the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. It is run as a funded X-Student Research Group of the Berlin University Alliance Student Research Opportunities Program (StuROPx) in summer semester 2026.