Dr. Dirk Petersen is the Founder and Executive Director of SECORE International, a non-profit organization with the mission to create and share the tools and technologies to sustainably restore coral reefs worldwide. During his PhD, Dr Petersen began studying the reproduction and breeding of corals; these studies formed the basis on which SECORE’s current work is built – together with the extensive expertise and experience of SECORE’s scientists.
What started as a dedicated project of scientists, became officially a non-profit in 2015, and by now, Dr. Petersen has grown SECORE into a leading global institution in the field of restoration research, engineering and the implementation of Coral Seeding. This approach focuses on breeding coral offspring for restoration—in this way, their resilience is strengthened by promoting genetic diversity thus enabling adaptability and the possibility for the corals to thrive in our world’s changing conditions.
Over the last decade, SECORE has established a network of active practitioners across the Caribbean to apply Coral Seeding, is implementing advanced coral restoration technologies globally together with AIMS, and has expanded the implementation of Coral Seeding approach into the Indian Ocean with Mauritius as the base. There, full-scale training with regional partners will begin this September. Right now, SECORE is working to bring Coral Seeding to the Pacific together with partners from Australia and on-site partners.
GUEST AND PEOPLE MENTIONED
Dr. Dirk Petersen
Founder and Executive Director, SECORE International
https://de.linkedin.com/in/dirk-petersen-06a5759
Sandra Mendoza-Quiroz
Restoration Coordinator, SECORE Mexico
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sandra-Mendoza-Quiroz
Dr. Margaret Miller
Chief Science Officer, SECORE International
https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaret-miller-36513b33
ORGANIZATIONS AND PROJECTS
SECORE International
https://www.secore.org/
Australian Institute of Marine Science
https://www.aims.gov.au/
FUNDEMAR
https://www.fundemardr.org/
Global Coral Tech Transfer Project
https://www.secore.org/en/news/25/global-exchange-of-knowledge-and-technology-to-significantly-advance-reef-restoration-efforts
ReefSeed
https://www.aims.gov.au/research-topics/environmental-issues/climate-change/coral-aquaculture/reefseed
FEATURED RESEARCH
Assisted sexual coral recruits show high thermal tolerance to the 2023 Caribbean mass bleaching event
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11410220/
FOLLOW REEF ROUNDUP
Website
https://www.reef-roundup.com/
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/reefroundup/
REEF Roundup is a program of REEF Scuba, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
https://www.reef-scuba.org/
