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Thank you so much for all that you taught us it helped all of us with our project immensely. I wonder how the fire worms can absorb the sting of fire coral? If people learned this than they could figure out how to stop sting allergies from being so bad. If they figured this out they could find out if the fire worm could absorb other kinds of stings too. This is important because if they figured out how maybe they could figure out a cure for other things like this. Once again thank you.

Sincerely

Lewis Cannon

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1. Why base64 encoding?

Base64 encoded images can be embedded using img tags or CSS, speeding up load times for smaller images by preventing additional HTTP requests. This can be done to build single-file mockups / demo pages for your clients, HTML email signatures that will not trigger the nasty "show images" warning in email clients, etc.

2. Supported image formats

This tool supports the most common image formats. These are .jpeg, .png, .gif, .webp, .svg and .bmp.

3. How to convert images

At the home page page you can convert your images by dragging them into your browser window, or click the upload button.

As soon as a file is uploaded, a green result row will indicate that it's successfully encoded. If there is a red row, something went wrong and you will see an error on the right.

You are allowed to upload up to 20 files at once.

4. Use base64 as image sources

You can use the base64 encoded string as a value of the src parameter, using a data:image/... construct.

You can obtain the example code by pressing the copy image button and it will be copied to your clipboard.

If your client does not support copy to clipboard without Flash and you do not have Flash installed you can click the show code button and copy the text manually from the first example that is shown in the dialog window.

Your HTML code should look like this:

See the base64 image demo at CodePen.

5. Use base64 as CSS background

You can use the base64 encoded string as a CSS background image, too. Simply feed the url() parameter with data:image/...

You can obtain the example code by pressing the copy css button and it will be copied to your clipboard.

If your client does not support copy to clipboard without Flash and you do not have Flash installed you can click the show code button and copy the text manually from the second example that is shown in the dialog window.

Your CSS code should look like this:

 .my-class { background: url('data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4RiDRXhpZgAATU0AKgA...'); }

See the base64 CSS demo at CodePen.

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Learn how to convert images to base64 strings and how to use them in HTML image elements and as CSS background images.

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you for taking the time to visit my classroom. I found your presentation very fun to listen to. Specifically, how volcanoes become smaller over millions of years. I also wonder and find it interesting how some fish are immune to the sting of millepora. This is important because by learning more about this we can better understand the effects of millepora stings on other creatures. We can also better our understanding of how immune organisms stay immune to millepora. I found your research and experiences very interesting and I hope you know you are incredible and are such an inspiration to all my classmates. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Angelica G.

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Dear Emillia,

I really appreciated you for taking time out of your day to educate us about corals and your education at CSUN. I really wondered about Millepora and you answered most of my questions. I still wonder why the fireworms only attack the Millepora corals, and not any other corals. I wonder this because fire coral are just a small fraction of the reef. I'm wondering why they choose this particular coral. This is significant because if the fireworms eat all of the coral, what will they eat? This also helps when doing studies. Doing these studies can tell us more about animals' behaviors. This study can also save the fire coral by learning more about fireworms and keeping the fire coral safe from them. Thank you so much for teaching us more about corals. I hope the rest of your school years and studies turn out well. Best of luck to you and your team! Stay safe!

Best Regards,

Annabelle Lee

HGM 6th

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Dear Emilia,

Your work has inspired me to do great things. During your presentation, it made me more curious about coral than I was before. I was thinking about how you were able to make the graphs to show the similarities and differences between what lives in coral. I was also wondering how animals interact with coral and what benefits either party gains. Can small diminutive creatures effect the whole reef? Learning about fire corals showed many anomalies about it and I wanted to learn how different species could coexist. The dwindling population of corals is an actual problem that must be resolved by scientists. Many problems with the sea like warming and the disappearance of important species. Your work is truly needed in reviving the lush reefs and to bring life back into the endless sea. Thank you for all you do to help corals flourish again. Although corals don't get enough attention from the public, you shed light toward the ongoing recovery.

-With Gratitude,

Wesley Ho

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Thank you so much for teaching us all the fascinating facts about fire corals! After the great presentation you gave us, I had a few questions. First, if the corals don't have a stable root or something that connects the ocean floor and the coral itself, how is it able to stay stationary? Also, if fire corals stings you, how do you take it safely (in the places where temporarily bringing corals with you is allowed) for research, and how do you examine them without stinging yourself? Another question I had was, as the corals develop into larger sizes, how do they stay strong so that parts of it don't break or fall apart? I had these questions because since corals develop over a very long period of time, I wondered how they are able to stay in one piece, considering their absurd age. Also, I wondered how they grow and develop in the first place if they don't have a stable source that connects them and the ocean floor. These were some thoughts I had after your presentation. Thank you so much again for giving us a very interesting lecture on corals.

Sincerely, Matthew Ma

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you so much for taking the time to teach us about fire corals and your work. You taught us a lot of things, such as how the mountain on Moorea was sinking slowly over the course of the years. Also, you taught us the qualities of the fire corals like how they can sting you. Not only that, you also taught us about millepora, which are coral who try and smother other corals and take over their spot. You even taught us about fire worms, which are very poisonous and are also fire-coral eaters. Again, thank you for taking the time and teaching us so much about fire corals and millepora!

Sincerely,

Saihan Haque

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Thank you for coming to my class to talk to us about what you do for your job and answering our questions about your job and millepora. I had another question though. If a millepora had enough time to slowly eat a fire worm and absorbed the fire worm's stinging cells would the millepora's sting become stronger. I had this question because if it did become stronger and it reproduces and created more millepora that had either a sting just as strong or a sting that was even stronger. If this happened over millions of years and it created a type of millepora that had a sting strong enough to kill a human what would we do with the new millepora. If this happened could we learn enough about these to create a new type species for other species that are rare.

Sincerly,

Ethan Franco

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you so much for taking the time to educate us more on coral. I am immensely thankful for it. I do wonder though, do fireworms have any natural toxins that they combine with the millepora? This is important because you said that a fireworm's sting is worse than a fire coral's. That makes me wonder how that is even possible. I am very curious about this matter. Do you know?

With immense gratitude,

Kyna M.

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you for taking the time to come to Portola to teach us! I really appreciate it, and I learned so much! I do have one question. Do most corals live in a symbiotic relationship? I know that fire coral does, but what about the other corals? I feel like this question is important because when you grew coral, did you have to bring along other organisms as well? I was just thinking, it would be way harder to do that, on top of needing to bring the coral! I was just wondering if you know! Again, thank you for coming here to teach us, and best of luck for you, as well as the rest of your team!

Sincerely,

Joelle Leonard

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Thank you for coming to our classroom and telling us about your research in fire coral. I learned so much from your presentation. I still have many questions and wonder a lot about fire coral and your research. One question I have is: Why do fire corals like to live near the beach? You informed us in your presentation that corals like to live near beaches but you never told us why. Is it because there is more food for the fire coral there? Or is it because there are less fire coral predators there? I also have some questions about your research. Have you made any crazy breakthroughs in your studies, if so what was it? I would like to know about the interesting discoveries you've made, as it can help me learn more about coral. I would also like to know more about how you help the Earth with your studies. Knowing what you are working on could possibly inspire me to learn more about corals and use that knowledge to help the environment. Your presentation helped me learn so much about coral. Thank you so much for taking your time to present to us.

Sincerely,

Andrew

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A scuba diver diving towards the Millepora coral, about to be sting.

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Dear Emilia,

I greatly appreciate you spending your time to come to our class to teach us about coral and all of the many wonders that it contains. I know that everyone deeply appreciated you coming over to spread awareness about corals and how some are becoming extinct slowly. One question that I still have about Millepora Coral is how they are able to sting others. How/when did they get the ability to be able to sting people, were they created with the ability to do this, or did they adapt this ability? I was thinking about this question because we talked a decent amount on how they are able to sting others. I also wonder how many other species are immune to this sting, since some species adapted to this. Thank you so much for your time!

Sincerly,

Panah Hassani

HGM 6th

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An illustration of Millepora that was drawn and colored in.

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you for coming to Portola! Your work is incredibly fascinating as you get to go under the water and study colorful coral. I wonder, how does touching Millepora give you a burning sensation?

We are recently learning about fire coral, which is named because of this feeling. This attribute is a defensive mechanism against other beings, except for certain animals. I ask this question because while we talked about this topic, it wasn't clear how fire corals can produce these reactions. I still have much to learn!

With Gratitude,

Ethan Calderon

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A coral reef made by Irie Perkins on Canva

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you so much for dedicating time to come and speak with us. We learned a lot that will be beneficial to our studies in class. Your presentation has inspired me to be curious and want to learn more. Millepora corals are truly fascinating and I enjoyed my experience learning about them. I wonder about the future of millepora coral considering global warming and pollution. I want to know how we can reduce our waste and prevent coral bleaching. I think it is interesting how corals provide homes for many animals like polyps and the polyps help the coral too. I would also like to know more about the coral's part in their ecosystem and food chain. Thank you again for answering our questions and devoting time for our class.

With Gratitude,

Irie Perkins

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you for coming to Portola and teaching us more about Fire Coral. One thing I wonder though is that when fire coral get nutrition do the food that they eat get stung before they die, or do they just get eaten and feel nothing? I would think that they would feel something. This is because they wouldn't be dead yet if they just got near the fire coral. If they touch it they would be shocked and eaten because the fire coral eats it while it touches the coral. This question can tell us how other animals react to fire coral and how they adapt to the stings. Otherwise, I learned a lot from what you taught us and I hope to use the information to use sometime. It was fun to know more about the life of millepora! Thank You!

Best Regards,

Elijah Cornelius

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you so much for the time and effort you put in coming to our class to talk to us. I am extremely curious about how fire corals know how strong the surrounding current is if they don't have a brain? Millepora know how strong the current is, and they adapt to whatever the conditions are. For example, thick branches or columns will grow if the current is mildly strong. My question is significant because the millepora has a method of figuring out the current strength. If we find out how, it might lead to new discoveries being made. For instance, it could have a similarity with another coral, and that would lead to scientists asking new questions and getting more answers. I hope you enjoy the next part of your career!

Best Regards,

Thea G.

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Thankyou Emilia for teaching us about Millepora. I now know that fire Corals sting but fire worms are even worse. I still have some questions, though. How many atolls exist in the world? This would help me understand how many reefs used to exist. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Forrest Kelly

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Thank you for coming to our school and teaching us about the Millepora coral. I wonder if the strength of the sting is connected to the health of the coral. I wonder this, because if something could gauge the strength of the sting it would be able to tell how healthy the coral is. This is important for rebuilding reefs because if you can find out how healthy the coral is you could find if it could rebuild a reef.

With Graditude,

Sawyer Cole

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Dear Amelia,

I appreciate all your hard work you put in the presentation and all the new information you told the class about. Your slide had a lot of in depth knowledge about fire Coral and I learned about the stingers. I wonder how fire coral gets the really strong stingers that humans can feel unlike other Coral. If the really strong stingers that humans can feel, does that mean this type of coral is more evolved because it has more hurt in the stingers? In your presentation, you had said that coral can overpower and kill other coral, would that mean fire coral has a better chance to survive because of its strong stingers? Thank you for your time and effort on your presentation. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Madeleine

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Dear Emilia,

I am writing to thank you for such an interesting presentation you showed us. You shared with us your career line, and what you do with your science team. The knowledge you shared with us will be forever remembered. Though you did answer many of our questions, I do still have one that I would like to ask you. To start, how do the fire worms eat the fire coral without getting hurt? I understand that there are adaptations that the organisms around the coral have, but could you specify what exactly the fire worm's adaptations are? I find that this question is crucial because it can tell us what coral can do, and what it can't do. It can also show us what the organisms around the coral are capable of doing, and what they can't do. It shows us the natural boundaries are in the living world. It can also probably inspire us to create new innovations and technology. This could include new medicines, or new ways to produce food. This shows that one simple question could lead to many new discoveries and ideas.

Once again, I would like to thank you for sparking the many questions and ideas we all have on coral. Your presentation definitely changed my view of coral!

Sincerely,

Rye Verstein

HGM Dr. Kang's period 1 and 6 classes

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Dear Emilia,

I loved your presentation! I loved learning about your time studying Coral and Coral reefs. I am grateful that you took time to tell us that. I wonder how Fire Corals even sense that people/animals are near so they know when to sting. It's crazy how they can do that even though they don't have a brain. I wonder what other animals Fire Corals eat too. Studying about the Coral reefs seems pretty interesting too. I also want to know what to prepare when you go scuba diving. Because scuba diving is pretty dangerous too. Your job seems really interesting and I would love to learn more about it. I also wonder how scientists take samples from Coral without harming it or damaging it. Once again, thank you for taking your time to tell us about your educational journey! I really appreciate the time and effort you put into this presentation! Thank you!

Sincerely,

Qi-En Lau.

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Image of ocean created on Canva by Sanvi Kulkarni

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Dear Emelia,

I'm Sanvi, and I'm one of the students you gave your coral reef presentation to yesterday. I'd like to thank you for giving me the oppurtunity to develop my knowledge on coral, especially millepora fire coral. It was also really interesting learning what you do during your time at the St. John, USVI and the Moorea, French Polynesia LTER (long term ecological research). It seems like a really fascinating job that I might want to explore when I grow up. While we were talking about millepora fire coral, you mentioned that they sting and their sting burns, which is how they got their name as "fire coral." I did a little bit of research about this burning sensation caused by cnidarians and I learned that this is the millepora fire coral's defense mechanism. This can prevent predators from infiltrating the millepora fire coral. This reminded me that almost all living organisms have defense mechanisms to prevent damage from predators. This led me to wonder: What other defense mechanisms do corals have? This is an important question to consider because when scientists like you are researching coral and conducting experiments, if we know the coral's defense mechanism, we can prevent burns, stings, and poisons from spreading. This way, we can more effectively study the coral. Also, these defense mechanisms might be wiping out animals that are predators to these corals. By figuring out what the defense mechanisms are, we can decrease the risk of animals getting killed. I hope you can answer this question for me, and I hope this question helps in the science lab. Once again, your presentation was really informative. I learned a lot from you and was really engaged. Thank you so much! I hope you and your team achieve greatness in the field of science investigations. Best of luck!

Best regards,

Sanvi Kulkarni

Portola HGM

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Dear Emilia,

I really appreciate you for helping educate my classmates and I about the amazing wonders about millepora fire coral and the research you have discovered and shared with us. Even though you have answered most of our questions, I still have some that need answers. First, do fire worms eat other corals? If they do, it can help the population of millepora corals. I was also wondering why fire worm's sting affects humans more than a fire coral's sting? How can fire worms move through the branches of fire corals without getting affected by the sting? Both of these questions are significant because the answer can lead to new discoveries. For example, new medicine and health benefits for humans. Thank you!

Best Regards,

Emma Rosete

Periods 1 + 6

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Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to teach us about your incredible research on Millepora Fire Corals. Your informative lecture allowed me to deepen my understanding of these remarkable organisms and broaden my perspective on many other creatures. Your presentation also ignited curiosity and a longing to know more about these animals. Your research on how different invertebrates are able to withstand the corals' stings inspired me to also ask questions on this natural phenomenon. Questions such as, how are some animals able to withstand the sting of the fire coral? What are their adaptations? What does this show about how they might react to the stings of other animals such as fireworms or jellyfish? This question is important because it could allow us to increase our protection from organisms such as these. Medicine in science is constantly advancing and becoming more specific. Studying the different adaptations of organisms that interact with this coral and their relationship with other organisms can help us to better understand the defense precautions we can take. It can also help us to gain a deeper understanding of the complex underwater activities that take place in this complicated underwater ecosystem. The knowledge of whether fire coral venom is related to that of jellyfish could help us to learn more about the abundant life in this underwater universe. I would again like to express my gratitude toward you. Your lecture was flawless and informative. The description of your experiment was very in depth and educational. I've always wanted to become a scientist that focuses on an aspect of biology and hearing about someone else's experience was truly illuminating. Thank you again.

With much gratitude and respect,

Viola Graham

HGM 6th grade

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Dear Amelia,

I appreciate all your hard work you put in the presentation and all the new information you told the class about. Your slide had a lot of in depth knowledge about fire Coral and I learned about the stingers. I wonder how fire coral gets the really strong stingers that humans can feel unlike other Coral. If the really strong stingers that humans can feel, does that mean this type of coral is more evolved because it has more hurt in the stingers? In your presentation, you had said that coral can overpower and kill other coral, would that mean fire coral has a better chance to survive because of its strong stingers? Thank you for your time and effort on your presentation. Thank you.

Warmly,

Madeleine

Portola HGM MD

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Thank You, Ms. Emilia, for coming to Portola and educating us about your amazing work. I liked how you said that you moved all the way from Rhode Island just to come here and go to CSUN, since you really liked the program there. Something that I still wonder about millepora coral is the question that someone asked yesterday, since corals don't have brains, how do they detect stress? This is important because if they secretly have some kind of sensing, we could investigate other living things that don't have brains. I also just wanted to say that I really like the program that you are in, and I might look into it myself one day, since I really like animals. Finally, your work is very impressive and fun, and it must be cool to be able to see all of the amazing animals that live near coral reefs.

Sincerely,

Lia Bohorquez

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you for coming to our class and thank you for teaching us more about corals. After you finished your presentation, I became more educated about millepora corals but I do have a question. According to your presentation, corals release chemicals to attack each other for territory. However, can these chemicals harm humans? If these chemicals can hurt humans, what are the side effects and what is the range of these chemicals? The reason why I am curious about this topic is because knowing that some corals are harmful to humans can avoid people getting hurt. You told us that you and your team try to avoid being stung by millepora corals. However, if these corals can release chemicals, you and your team might get injured. Thank you so much for coming to the class and presenting what you know about millepora corals. I learned a lot more and I think these kinds of things are more interesting now. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Jasmine Kondo

HGM 6th

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A close-up picture of Millepora, also known as Fire coral

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Dear Emilia,

Thanks for all of the things about corals reefs that you have taught us about. For me personally, I am extremely curious on why Millepora give a stinging or itching feeling for us and other corals don't. I wonder this because when someone asked about this, you said that they do give a reaction but not to us. From this response, I am also curious on what chemicals in Millepora give the itching feeling that other corals don't. In general, I also want to know about all of the things that you do at the research facilities in St. John and Moorea. I hope that you come back one day to answer these questions.

With Gratitude,

Nolan Yetukuri

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Emilia,

I want to thank you sincerely for taking time out of your day to come and talk to us about corals and all of your research. I had several questions about your research, and this one seemed most prevalent to me: How old is the Millepora. I know that many Ocean creatures can be millions, sometimes billions of years old, having survived mass extinctions sheltered in the ocean. Millepora seems to be a very well developed species, and that kind of superiority doesn't happen instantly. I want to know more about where they came from, and how they changed to get where they are now. I would again like to thank you for your time, and give my hopes that you continue to prosper in this field of research.

-Sincerely,

Baird S.

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Dear Emilia,

I'm extremely grateful that you found time to teach our class about your job and the amazing things you do at CSUN graduate studies. One question I have now is if every coral species has the same stinging ability as the fire coral and if they don't, why did the fire coral develop these abilities? Another question is if the animals that you said live in the branches of the fire coral are immune to the stings. If they are, (probably yes) this makes me wonder how the creatures that live there are immune, and if this is a natural ability or an evolution. I can't figure out why the creature's ancestors would decide to keep coming to the coral if they knew that it would sting them, though. My last question is if it is possible to make a medicine, cure, or something that stops the fire coral sting from harming humans. I would greatly like to hear the answer to this matter, as it would be interesting why it isn't/is possible to make a cure. Again, I am sincerely thankful that you decided to come to our class and present your studies at the CSUN program. I loved how you answered each question with a direct answer and made the presentation seem so interesting and teach us so many new facts and things.

Best regards,

Ameli Makhmudova

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Thank you for coming to our class. I found it very interesting to learn about fire coral and LTER's. This made me more interested in fire coral and fireworms.

Sincerely,

Emerson Hunt

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Thank you for taking time out of your day and coming to our middle school to help us learn more about your field of study, and Millepora Alcicornis. There is a lot left to think, and I'm left baffled after your complex and in-depth presentation all about corals. One, when I saw the map of the island and where the LTER bases are, I wonder if you ever go out of your LTER base to do research. This is because I saw that there were coral lagoons all around the island. Two, when I saw the graph, I wondered about a lot of things. You explained the graph, but I still wonder what is the exact amount of axis you had to use? And when two of those colored zones intercept each other, what does it mean? I still have a lot of questions to ask and would be certainly pleased if you had the chance to go back here and answer them. You have explained to us a topic that you have been learning for years now, and I like how you are able to try to explain some topics that even you can't fully explain, like the graph.

Gratefully,

Nathaniel Song

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Thank you for coming to our class and teaching us about Millepora corals. My question is, can a Millepora coral have a stronger sting than a jellyfish? I ask this question because if a if a millepora can sting more than a jellyfish, we would have to know about this new species in the water. It is important because then, scientists could have found new ways to protect that millepora or to move it to a new place where it won't be destroyed. It would be helpful if you could answer this question.

With immense gratitude,

Stefano Linares-Cruz

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CI: Jellyfish vs Coral                   Colored Illustration 

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you so much for your time and effort in teaching us. This lecture was an amazing experience and taught me so much more about coral, espicially Millepora. I loved learning about your experiences, coral, and what you work on. Still, I wonder about a couple of things. I was still wondering why Millepora sting harder then other coral. This is important because you mentioned that other corals do sting, but Millepora sting much harder than others. I was also wondering why animals like the hermit crab, barnacles, and juvenile fish like living in Millepora. You said that animals like hermit crabs like living in Millepora, although Millepora stings. I was wondering why this happens, as you could get hurt by stings, but animals like hermit crabs prefer living there. Lastly, I was wondering about how the coral do not die after the lava is spilled after a volcanic eruption. Again, thank you so much for teaching us so much about coral, especially Millepora coral.

Best Regards,

Minghan Guo

Periods 2 & 3

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you for making time to inform us about your research and about corals in general. However, I have questions to ask you about your presentation. You said that fire corals sting when you touch them. Why do fire corals sting? Is this because of some sort of chemical in them? I got curious because we know what fire coral feels like, but we don't know what causes them to react like this. Talking about reaction, does fire corals sting every animal that is near it? If so, how do these animals react? I would like to know about these questions. This would help me understand the fire corals more. Thank you so much for doing a presentation for us so we can learn the content. I wish you luck on your research!

Best regards,

Juah Shin

HGM 6th grade

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you so much for educating us about Millepora! After learning about corals, I was interested in what corals had defenses against predators and offensive abilities against plankton and prey. In addition, I wanted to know about how Coral reefs were formed and how they were structured, which you also taught to me. I still wonder if corals have specific toxins that are adapted to only hurt predators. This is because they act as a refuge to other animals, which would imply they do not get stung and hurt by the Millepora. This may be the reason behind the fire coral's especially painful sting. I hope you have safe travels and good luck in your continuing research.

Sincerely,

Cyrus Dadgostar

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Dear, Emila

I want to ask you about the algae and how they invade the natural habitats of millepora. I'm mainly interested in the ways algae take over the fire coral and why that harms the whole ecosystem around a reef. Why does harm come to the fire corals and does it cause bleaching when algae takes over a reef? I'm also curious about if a certain amount of algae around the coral can help them rather than harm them. My mine idea for why the algae harms the coral is that it blocks off plankton like zooxanthellae from going in the coral and helping it, can you confirm if this is right if there is something else that the algae cause. I hope that you can answer these questions sometime when you have the time to.

Sincerely,

Oskar von Seggern

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Thank you for coming to our class and taking time out of your day to speak with our class about millepora coral. I did have a couple of questions about your presentation, but thank you for answering most of my questions.

Firstly, do millepora coral and different types of coral react differently to immediate changes in their environment? Because the LTER records specific environments, would they cover questions like these, or would they not because their main purpose is long term? Also, in the family of millepora, are certain species attracted to certain types of coral?

Considering that the species and corals in the oceans are not evenly spread, do you also look at the variation of species, and how do you account for this?

Thank you for exposing us to the studies you and your peers have conducted, and once again, thank you for taking the time to tell us all of these amazing things.

Sincerely,

Isabella Kwon

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you for taking the time to visit Portola and teach us about millepora; I learned so much from your presentation. Specifically speaking, I found it fascinating how millepora lives in close relationships with hermit crabs, juvenile fish, and barnacles and was curious about the symbiotic relationships these organisms have with millepora. Are these relationships mutual, commensal, or parasitic? In addition, are these organisms affected by millepora venom, which is painful but not lethal to humans? This question is significant because it addresses the effect millepora have on their environment and the species living around them as well as different species' effects on the population and survival rates of millepora. I sincerely enjoyed your presentation and hope you can come back to teach us so much more information.

With gratitude,

Kieun Shin

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Dear Emilia, thank you for taking the time to visit us and teaching us about your work. What I wonder is why the snail that bores itself into corals avoids the fire Coral and other sessile corals. I also wonder if there might be another exhibition site for you to work at. I also wonder what the most endangered Coral species in your research group is. I also wonder how your presentation would differ if you had been part of a different group.

With Gratitude, Alex

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Dear Emilia,

Thanks for spending some of your precious time with us. You taught us so much in such a short amount of time! I have several questions to ask you about your research I didn't have time for. The most important question I have is exactly how long does the millepora sting last? The reason why I have this question is because it would help to know this if you get stung and you would probably want to know when it would heal. That way you would know if anything is out of the ordinary. Another question I have is how can you help relieve the pain of the sting. I had this question because if you were stung you would want to try to relieve the pain as soon as possible. Thanks again for spending time with us.

Sincerely,

Alvin

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you for providing your knowledge of Fire Corals and showing it to us students so we ourselves can expand on our knowledge of Fire Corals. I wonder if the size of the Fire Corals can affect how strong their sting are. I also wonder what certain toxin Fire Corals have that gives human a burning sensation. There might be a certain chemical/substance in fire that is in Fire Corals' toxins. I also wonder if the toxins in the Fire Coral affect the stomach of Fire Worms when eating the Fire Corals. The whole predator and prey relationship between Fire Worms and Fire Corals is interesting, a long with Fire Worms only eating Fire Corals. Overall, I want to know more, and I would like you to come again to show us your extended research with more knowledge to provide us. Best of luck!

Sincerely,

Arya Nawathe

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Dear Emilia, thank you so much for going through all the trouble to come to our school. During your presentation, I started wondering since most corals have a stinging ability, why and how the fire coral has a different stinging ability and why it is more reactive to our skin. What in the poison makes us more vulnerable to it and what other animals that do not have that we do not? Are the animals that eat the coral safe from the poison? The poison produced by the Millepora interested me and encouraged me to learn about it. I thank you so much again for your time and making sure that each one of us was educated about this topic.

Sincerely,

Chloe Park

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Dear Emilia,

I heavily appreciate the fact that you took the time to educate us on the corals (especially Millepora), the things around it, and even a bit of your background! With this knowledge, I shall use it to ace the DOK questions assigned, and I hope to further expand on this knowledge in future projects for school. I have composed a list of several questions regarding Millepora corals, your research, and other things related to your presentation. For starters, I'm wondering specifically how the annual surveys by the LTER are conducted. About Millepora, how are they similar to porites. Other than that,, most of my questions have been answered, and your presentation was super comprehensive, explaining a lot about fire corals and your research. Again, I have a heavy amount of gratitude for your presentation.

Best Regards,

Ayaan Mehta

6th HGM

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you for presenting to us, I learned a lot about corals and Millepora in general, along with learning completely new things such as what LTER is. Although, I do wonder about some things and have a question. How are Millepora so widespread across the Atlantic ocean's coral reefs? I wonder about this because it is difficult for coral to spread, as it only grows in shallower waters. Most of the ocean that it needs to travel across to get to another reef is deep, and so it would be difficult for it to travel across more inhospitable waters. If it was brought by humans to these environments, then how and why was it brought, as I can see very few other ways Millepora could travel so far, but also very few reasons earlier humans would transport it. Also, it seems unlikely that Millepora could evolve so similarly in multiple cases around the world separately, without each type being related. As such, I am puzzled about how Millepora is in so many reefs that are separated by deep ocean, as some of which are extremely far from one another. Due to the fact that you are the Millepora expert, I think you would know the answer to this. Once again, I would like to thank you for your time presenting to us, and hope you have a successful career.

-Sincerely

Andrew Summers

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Dear Emillia,

Thank you so much for taking your own time and sharing your experiences at the polyp lab of CSUN. It provided us with new insights and thoughts of corals. I really appreciate it. I do have a new question after hearing you though. What if corals did not share a symbiotic relationship with zooxanthellae? How would it affect the marine community, and is there an alternative algae that they could form a symbiotic relationship with to get the same benefits? The reason why I wonder this is because the symbiotic relationship of zooxanthellae and corals is very crucial in the lives of the corals. It provides the corals with carbon dioxide and water that is required for photosynthesis. This provides them with the food required for survival. I am very curious if coral can also find an alternative for this, and how it would affect the current marine ecosystem. You inspired me to dive deeper into studying about corals and your research and the information you provided was very interesting. Thank you so much!

Best Regards,

Ashwin Santhoshkumar

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you so much for coming to our science period to educate the class about your studies and research into millepora (fire corals). Even though your presentation was wonderful and factful, I was still wondering if the fact that millepora are hydrozoans is directly the cause of them not being considered 'true corals'. While we were researching and studying about millepora, we learned that millepora are not true corals. This struck me as odd because they look like corals but don't build reefs. By understanding what defines a true coral and finding the hydrozoan corals, investigation and classification of corals as true or not could become much more solid. Again, thank you so much for coming to Portola to teach our period about fascinating facts about fire corals (millepora)!

Sincerely,

Daniel Kim

6th Grade HGM, Periods 2 + 3

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Dear Emilia,

We are so grateful that you took time out of your busy masters schedule to talk to us! There was so much interesting information you presented to us! I loved how you are able to work in radically different areas and go diving. It was so cool how different corals house different animals based on tiny differences. And how different areas themselves house many different corals for the smallest differences, including temperature. I still wonder what caused millepora to adapt to having stinging cells. What caused them to obtain this? Why don't other corals have stinging venom which affect humans the same way millepora do? Thank you so much!

Best,

Aarish Bal

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Dear Emillia,

Thank you so much for coming to our class. I appreciate you very much for taking time out of your day. I learned so many new things about millepora and the ecology of it. I had a few questions and you answered all of them. Some questions I had were how does millepora affect the coral community and why do we react to the stings of millepora but not other corals. You answered almost all my questions and helped me understand it a lot more. Again thank you so much for coming and teaching us about millepora.

Best Regards,

Juliet Meyer

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you for coming to our school and teach us about your work and fire corals. You answered almost every question that we asked, but I wonder how fireworms eat fire coral. I wonder about this since fire coral makes a burning sensation that hurts a lot. Do fire worms have a special chemical that prevents this? If they do, how is it produced and what else do they have that prevents the stinging in their stomach. Another thing that I am wondering about is how coral have so many colors and shapes. This is because many things in the ocean look mostly symmetrical like fish and other things but most species have 1 color. Thank you and good luck in your research.

Sincerely,

Shiven D.

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Your presentation was so awesome! Thank you so much! I found your presentation really interesting; and I learned more things about Millepora! It's a win-win! I had no idea that snails would eat Millepora! Or that juvenile fish and hermit crabs would like to hide in Millepora! I wonder why juvenile fish specifically and not younger or older fish. Most of all, young fish is probably more vunrable, so I wonder why not young fish wouldn't hide there. I've always wondered how Rhode Island was like. I've never been to a island before, but it sounds fun! Moorea sounds so pretty too! I didn't know about the stages of these islands with reefs, that a atoil could completly replace a island! I also have a question about the diseases that endanger coral. How exactly does the disease intrude coral? Through their polyps? Once again, thank you so much for your presentation!

With Graditude,

Caris Kim

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you so much for coming to our classroom and presenting your slide show. I am wondering what corals evolved from and what they will eventually evolve into. Corals seem like such an interesting and complicated study, and are very unique creatures. Also, how different types of coral are so different in their contribution to the ecosystem as well. Some build reefs while others do not. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Oliver Lieberthal

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you so much for your time and effort in teaching us. This lecture was an amazing experience and taught me so much more about coral, espicially Millepora. I loved learning about your experiences, coral, and what you work on. Still, I wonder about a couple of things. I was still wondering why Millepora sting harder then other coral. This is important because you mentioned that other corals do sting, but Millepora sting much harder than others. I was also wondering why animals like the hermit crab, barnacles, and juvenile fish like living in Millepora. You said that animals like hermit crabs like living in Millepora, although Millepora stings. I was wondering why this happens, as you could get hurt by stings, but animals like hermit crabs prefer living there. Lastly, I was wondering about how the coral do not die after the lava is spilled after a volcanic eruption. Again, thank you so much for teaching us so much about coral, especially Millepora coral.

Best Regards,

Minghan Guo

Periods 2 & 3

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Dear Emillia,

Your research was amazing! I can't believe how much you know about coral. Even your presentation was fun and easy to understand. Thank you so much for this opportunity to have you here. Moorea sounded beautiful but I was left curious about Saint John. Because Florida's environment shares many characteristics with the Caribbean, I was wondering if your findings in Florida and Saint John were similar. What about the coral reefs are similar and what is different? I was wondering if findings in Saint John can help the US restore reefs in Florida. Maybe seeing how similar corals react in a healthier, less populated area compare to busy Florida can help researchers develop cures dying corals. Again I'd like to thank you because you helped me understand corals and how they work much better. I hope you are able to develop your findings by visiting even more cool islands!

Sincerely,

Josette K.

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Dear Ms Emilia,

Thank you for coming to visit my class and thank you for teaching us more about millepora coral. After you finished your presentation, I felt more educated and I have a question. As you said in your presentation, corals fight each using chemicals. However, are those chemicals that the corals release harmful? If the corals can release chemicals that harm humans, how harmful are they and what can you do to recover from it? I ask this question because people like you, whose job is to scuba dive near many corals, might get harmed by the chemicals. As you explained in your presentation, many people avoid going near a type of coral, the millepora coral, because of the fact they can sting people. If some people learn that millepora coral can sting and release harmful chemicals, they might start trying to avoid millepora coral. This can cause people to want to learn less about these incredible corals. Thank you for coming to my class to teach us more about corals.

Sincerely,

Jasmine Kondo

HGM 6th Grade

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Dear Emilia,

Thank you so much for making the time to come and share your knowledge with us! I greatly appreciate you for enlightening us with a bunch of new knowledge such as the fact that some corals are able to sting people. Infact, your presentation has really inspired me and drawn me closer to Marine Biology, which I would like to look into when I am older. However, I had one question that I have been pondering on the most after listening to your fantastic presentation. The question I have been wondering about is if you were to get stinged by a millepora, how would you deal with the sting? Would it be similar to how you deal with a bee sting or wasp sting, or would it be like having to deal with a stingray sting? Though you had elaborated about the pain level of coral stings, I am still curious about how you would treat them as I am guessing that fire coral stings are more unknown and less-occuring, so I am dying to know how you would treat them. Would you use medicine? Would you run the sting over hot water? Once again, I am very grateful for your time and the fact you educated us about corals.

Best Regards,

Uliana Egorova

6th HGM, Periods 2 & 3.