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Science Friday

The High-Tech Lab Unlocking Secrets Of Coral Reproduction

Science Friday

Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science, Life Sciences, Wnyc, Natural Sciences, Friday

4.46.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 September 2025

⏱️ 18 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

At a lab in the heart of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, scientists are breeding corals to be more resilient to rising ocean temperatures.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I'm Flora Lichtenen, and you're listening to Science Friday.

0:07.5

Today in the podcast, a conversation from our live show in Redwood City, California.

0:12.9

Ira talks with the scientist, growing baby corals to make reefs more resilient.

0:31.6

Yeah. to make reefs more resilient. You know, one of the unique pleasures about being in the Bay Area is the proximity to the ocean, close to marine wildlife lives. We love to see like the whales and the dolphins and the sea lions. But there's also

0:38.8

unexpected marine life here and not where you might expect. Right in Golden Gate Park, you can find a lab

0:46.9

on the cutting edge of growing coral. Scientists are discovering the secrets of coral reproduction

0:52.7

in an effort to bring them back from the brink.

0:55.9

I want to introduce you to one of these scientists.

0:58.6

Dr. Rebecca Albright is a coral reef biologist,

1:01.7

an associate curator, and Patterson Scholar

1:04.0

at the California Academy of Sciences.

1:06.8

Welcome to Science Friday.

1:10.0

I'm excited to be here. Thank you, Ira.

1:12.6

Were you always involved in the water? What drew you to being a coral scientist?

1:17.6

I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only person in this room that dreamed of being a marine biologist as a kid.

1:22.6

I think I just stayed the course.

1:25.6

I was always drawn to the ocean. I always felt very comfortable and kind of at peace in the course. I was always drawn to the ocean.

1:28.2

I always felt very comfortable and kind of at peace in the water.

1:31.7

I was a competitive swimmer.

1:33.8

In undergrad, I was actually pre-med, and I decided to study abroad in Australia.

1:38.8

This was around the year 2000.

1:41.7

And I wasn't going to go to Australia and not dive on the Great Barrier Reef. So I got

...

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