During the first week of February 2020, Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) welcomed Dr. Charity Lee and the Research team from Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), and Professor Christopher Sabine from the University of Hawaii, Manoa, to continue to build capacity in the monitoring of acidity levels in Palau’s waters.
In January 2018, in collaboration with KIOST, PICRC installed an Ocean Acidification (OA) monitoring buoy in Ngederrak Conservation Area. This non-invasive system takes eight measurements daily, monitoring the water’s pH, temperature, salinity and carbon dioxide levels. KIOST scientists regularly visit PICRC to assist and train in the proper maintenance and upgrade of the equipment.
On February 8, 2020, coordinated by KIOST, Professor Sabine conducted a 5-day workshop at PICRC on ocean acidification and how to quality control the data received from the OA buoy deployed in Ngederrak. “The ability to obtain and interpret raw data that allows us to further understand the state of our oceans is essential in predicting the behavior of our marine ecosystems in the future,” stated Victor Nestor, PICRC lead researcher for this project. “We thank our collaborators, especially Koror State Government, for their continued support for this project,” he added.