Russell J. Schmitt

Tracking demographic changes in individual coral colonies through repeated photogrammetric surveys

This paper develops a workflow combining photogrammetry and machine learning to track demographic changes in coral colonies over time, revealing patterns of survival, mortality, and size structure before, during, and after a marine heatwave.

Heat Waves Promote, but Cyclones Reverse, Coral-to-Seaweed Regime Shifts by Reshaping Reef Resilience

This study shows heat waves promote coral-to-seaweed shifts by leaving skeletal legacies, while cyclones reverse this by removing structures, demonstrating disturbance type and sequence affect ecosystem resilience.