MS Marine Science and Managment (2025), University of Sydney
BS Molecular Environmental Biology (Zoology) (2021), UC Berkeley

Project: Reconstructing reef collapse and recovery using community patterns in Late Quaternary corals

Caroline is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney studying reef paleoecology under the supervision of Professor Jody Webster. Her research is conducted in collaboration with the International Ocean Discovery Program’s Hawaiian Drowned Reefs and Great Barrier Reef expeditions (IODP 385 and 325). Using an extensive archive of coral sediment cores, Caroline’s work is part of a broader effort to understand changes in global sea level linked to Earth’s climate history, and how this has shaped reef development through time. Caroline is particularly interested in patterns of community turnover in fossil coral assemblages, and how they indicate paleo-environmental change, reef demise, and recovery. Her work will also explore geochemcial proxies of paleo-water quality to better interpret reef drowning sequences.

Caroline recently completed her Master in Marine Science and Management at the University of Sydney, where she conducted a multivariate analysis linking environmental variables to shallow coral assemblages around Hawaii island using open-access data repositories. During her undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley, she began her research career at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, where she work in the bird collections. Later, she studied phenotypic variation in southwestern fence lizards and conducted field work on western pond turtles in the San Fransisco Bay Area.

caroline.romo@sydney.edu.au

Publications

Reymond, C. E., Romo, C., Posiunaite, G., Byrne, M. & Webster, J. M. 2025. Impact of wave exposure on bleaching of large benthic foraminifera. Coral Reefs, 1-8.