Justin McAlister, professor of biology and environmental studies, teamed with three biology majors, Catherine Hernando ’27, Jayde Waibel ’27 and Libby Silver ’26, in July and August 2025 to continue his work studying the northern star coral, Astrangia poculata.
As part of the College's Weiss Summer Research program, the group traveled to Fort Wetherill State Park in Jamestown, Rhode Island, to collect samples of the coral, which is found in coastal waters along the East Coast from Cape Cod to the Gulf of Mexico. McAlister, his Holy Cross research associate and technician, Danielle Moloney, and his graduate intern from Northeastern University’s Three Seas Program, Anna Dormitzer, dove 35-40 feet down into the Narragansett Bay to retrieve the coral, while Waibel, Hernando and Silver formed the shore support team, preparing the coral for transport. Back in McAlister's lab at Holy Cross, the group investigated the reproductive energetics of the specimens in consideration of the effects of climate change, and other environmental changes, on the coral.
"My biggest passion right now is just trying to do something to leave the Earth a better place than when I found it,” said Hernando. “Having the chance to come down to Jamestown this summer and see the coral in the wild has made me realize that this is something I want to do, and marine biology is definitely something that will be in my future."
Follow along for a look at what the students called “egg day” — a day spent collecting eggs from female coral for later analysis to determine what the mother coral provides their eggs with (and the larvae that develop from them) to survive.
McAlister loads gear before heading to campus.
McAlister heads to Holy Cross.
McAlister brings his bags to the van outside O’Neil Hall.
McAlister’s three summer research students, Jayde Waibel '27, Catherine Hernando '27 and Libby Silver '26, in the van heading to Jamestown.
McAlister meets Anya Hanson, diving safety officer at the University of Rhode Island, at the URI Bay Campus to collect scuba diving tanks.
Silver and Hernando help McAlister unload the van.
The group takes in the view from Fort Wetherill before they get to work.
McAlister puts on his scuba gear as he prepares for his dive.
Silver helps Dormitzer put on her scuba gear.
Dormitzer and McAlister make their way into the water.
Waibel, Silver and Hernando admire a small ocean organism that they collected in one of the tide pools.
Justin McAlister, Holy Cross professor of biology and environmental studies, and his dive partner and research intern, Northeastern University graduate student Anna Dormitzer, return from their dive with bags full of Astrangia poculata.
Dormitzer admires a large piece of Astrangia poculata.
Fort Wetherill State Park, overlooking the eastern side of Narragansett Bay.
McAlister’s students begin organizing the coral, placing one piece of coral into each container.
McAlister sprays off the scuba tanks with freshwater back at URI Bay Campus before he returns them.
McAlister and his students walk through O’Neil Hall with their equipment, heading to the laboratory.
Dormitzer, Hernando, Waibel and Silver all watch as one of the female corals release eggs.
One of McAlister’s former students, Francisco Luc Zafón-Whalen '24, uses a turkey baster to take water out of one of the glass dishes.
Samples of Astrangia poculata. This coral is the official state coral of Rhode Island, and the only coral found in Massachusetts.
McAlister, Waibel, Dormitzer, Hernando and Silver end their day with a group huddle.
