Kevin Helmle, a researcher based at the NSU Oceanographic Center (OC) National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI), is featured in the two-hour documentary special A Global Warning? on The History Channel. Helmle, M.S., is currently a Ph.D. student at the Oceanographic Center.

The focus of the show is the history of climate events and seeks to gain knowledge on the weather of our past with the hope of preventing climate catastrophes in the future. NCRI’s contribution is on what corals can tell us about sea level and climate change.

Filming began at Windley Key Fossil Coral Reef State Park, near Key Largo, Fla., illustrating that sea level was much higher 125,000 years ago. Footage was then collected at the NSU OC, where Helmle discusses the use of coral cores and density banding to identify recent climate change over the last 300 years and the relationship to coral growth. Underwater filming was also taken to demonstrate the method of drilling coral cores that is used by NCRI researchers to procure samples