Keri O’Neil

Director and Senior Scientist, Coral Conservation Program

Keri O’Neil’s interest in coral reefs began during childhood snorkeling trips to Florida and led her to The Florida Aquarium and unprecedented work in coral conservation.

As the director and senior scientist of the Coral Conservation Program, Keri oversees the daily care of corals rescued from the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease in Florida and other stressors. She also oversees the Aquarium’s induced spawning lab – the site of the world’s first induced spawn of the threatened pillar coral in a laboratory setting. She and her team at The Florida Aquarium have spawned and raised 14 species of coral native to Florida and have worked with partners to outplant thousands of coral recruits onto Florida’s Coral Reef. While continuing work to induce spawning of new coral species, Keri is dedicated to improving the process of coral spawning and rearing with the goal of efficiency, reliability and widespread dissemination of the techniques.

Keri earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Maryland, where she began studying corals. After college, she spent nearly a decade at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. She went on to pursue her master’s degree in marine biology and environmental science in 2009 at Nova Southeastern University, where she raised corals for coral outplanting projects on the east coast of Florida.

KEYWORDS: Coral Conservation, Coral Biology, Coral Spawning, Coral Reproduction, Coral Husbandry