As an MSc student with a background in coral restoration, I studied how coral babies can replenish degraded reefs. My research focused on the early life history stages of corals, specifically examining what influenced their larval behavior, settlement, and recruitment, and whether these had latent effects. Over 5+ years of experience, I became passionate about reducing corals’ early development bottlenecks. My goal was to conduct research that would lead to the development of innovative strategies to scale up reef rehabilitation with recruits and juvenile corals.