Robbie participated in the II Workshop on Mesophotic Reefs in Latin America: Exploration and Science, which took place last week at CEBIMar, São Sebastião, Brasil.
Here, Robbie presented on deep reef refuges in the context of conservation of the critically endangered coral endemic to the Galapagos Islands, Rhizopsammia wellingtoni. R. wellingtoni persists in mesophotic reefs of the Galapagos where temperatures remain cool.
These deeper areas may provide a refuge for species whose populations contract in shallow waters during marine heat waves, such as the extreme El Nino events of 1982 and 1997, which caused widespread declines in this and other endemic Galapagos marine species.
Lamb Marine Lab 
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