{"id":143143,"date":"2023-10-30T11:06:09","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T15:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=143143"},"modified":"2023-11-01T08:54:12","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T12:54:12","slug":"data-dive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2023\/10\/30\/data-dive\/","title":{"rendered":"Data dive"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Josh Hivner, a senior biological sciences major at Wright State, helped clear debris from coral reefs while gathering data for his undergraduate thesis during a trip to Thailand.<\/p><\/div>\n

Josh Hivner, a senior biological sciences major<\/a> in Wright State University\u2019s College of Science and Mathematics<\/a>, spent seven weeks last spring in Thailand studying coral reefs at his own expense.<\/p>\n

The data he compiled and continues to analyze will be the basis of his undergraduate thesis, which looks at the health not only of the coral reefs but also the planet.<\/p>\n

\u201cConservation biology inspires me,\u201d said the Huber Heights native. \u201cIt\u2019s important that we take care of what we have here on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did field research in Florida last year and wanted to build on that experience. So why Thailand?<\/p>\n

\u201cI got interested in the effect of global warming on corals and wanted to do research and was looking where to go,\u201d he said. \u201cI found an organization in Thailand, The Coral Tribe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hivner applied for a grant, didn\u2019t get one, but decided to pursue the research on his own.<\/p>\n

He was in Thailand from April 30 to June 19, joining The Coral Tribe in dives to the coral reefs off the island of Koh Tao to clear away plastics, fishing nets and lines that littered the reefs. He also gathered data on the reefs\u2019 health and related marine activity, including giant clams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe looked at how the abundance of giant clams correlates with coral health,\u201d Hivner said. \u201cDo coral reefs have more resilience if there are more giant clams? We\u2019re studying that relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he returned to campus this semester, Hivner dived into scholarly research and is compiling the data. He hopes to find some significance in the data and do a more in-depth and targeted project about coral health. His goal is to find ways to protect the health of coral reefs.<\/p>\n

Coral health is important to oceanic health, something that is of greater worldwide concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe oceans are very important to regulating climate on Earth,\u201d Hivner said. \u201cThey\u2019re our buffer for all the things that we\u2019re doing to harm the environment with carbon emissions. There will come a point when things are going to get worse quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating with his bachelor\u2019s degree next spring, he plans to look into graduate school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to broaden my experience a little more and continue research through marine biology or biological sciences,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Josh Hivner joined The Coral Tribe in dives to the coral reefs off the island of Koh Tao to clear away plastics, fishing nets and lines that littered the reefs.<\/p><\/div>\n

Another option he is considering is joining The Coral Tribe team full-time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of The Coral Tribe made the whole experience,\u201d he said. \u201cI was going almost exactly on the opposite side of the world from Dayton. I had no idea what was going to happen. But they brought me in. It wasn\u2019t awkward. I was part of a family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hivner said it was a rewarding experience because everyone was passionate about the same thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what they were doing, either diving or data entry. We felt we were making a difference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hivner said Wright State\u2019s professors and staff have helped him on his marine journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is very enthusiastic and willing to help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He singled out Volker Bahn, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences, the advisor for his undergraduate thesis, for his help.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s been accommodating for me,\u201d Hivner said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Josh Hivner, a senior biological sciences major at Wright State, helped clear debris from coral reefs while gathering data for his undergraduate thesis during a trip to Thailand. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":143154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,2064,725,2045,715,18,746],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-biology","category-home-news-sidebar","category-honors-program","category-news","category-research","category-science-mathematics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143143"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143167,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143143\/revisions\/143167"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}