Coral reefs have thrived for millions of years in their shallow ocean water environments due to their unique partnerships with the algae that live in their tissues. Corals provide a safe haven and carbon dioxide while their algal symbionts provide them with food and oxygen produced from photosynthesis. Using the corals Orbicella annularis and Orbicella faveolate in the southern Caribbean, researchers at the Carl R.

Lauren Todorov likes to think that life is a web — if you look hard enough, you’ll find that everything is connected.

She’s applying this mindset to the research she is pursuing as this year’s Carl R. Woese Undergraduate Research Scholar.