Ashtyn’s graduate research aims to determine how coral reefs of different depths may respond to the changing conditions in the ocean, specifically under projected future levels of ocean acidification. To do this she studies a species of crustose coralline algae called Porolithon onkodes, which is an important photosynthesizing framework builder on coral reefs found across a range of depths. Through the use of flow through aquaria tanks called mesocosms, she manipulates the amount of CO2 in each tank as well as the light chemistry to simulate different depths in order to determine the effects on this calcifying species. Ashtyn currently conducts this work in Mo’orea, French Polynesia through the Mo’orea Coral Reef (MCR) National Science Foundation Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program.