CONROE, Texas, October 13, 2026. The IMARCS Foundation, a U.S. 501(c)(3) marine science nonprofit, is announcing an informal partnership with a top-tier laboratory and talented scientists in Spain. The Foundation will process samples for its giant clam and coral research at a University of Barcelona laboratory, with guidance from two university scientists who advise the Foundation as volunteers.
This partnership was developed through Jordan Flagel, the Foundation's Vice President and Lead Researcher (who is a PhD researcher that has spent time in the university's "slug lab") and Dr. Vanessa Arranz and Dr. Juan Moles, who serve as volunteer research advisors to IMARCS and take part in its ongoing research and related publications.
Status of the arrangement. This is not an institutional partnership between the IMARCS Foundation and the University of Barcelona. The university provides no funding to IMARCS and has no financial or institutional role in the Foundation or its programs. No formal agreement exists between the two organizations, and the university has not reviewed or directly endorsed the IMARCS Foundation's work. Dr. Arranz and Dr. Moles advise IMARCS in a personal, voluntary capacity, not on behalf of the university or its faculty. The arrangement consists of sharing laboratory space, voluntarily shared expertise, and goodwill for the sake of good science.
The work in Barcelona centers on the Foundation's coral bleaching study. Using samples collected at the giant clam hatchery in Kosrae, Micronesia, IMARCS is testing whether zooxanthellae, the symbiotic algae that live inside giant clams, can improve corals' thermal tolerance and speed their recovery from bleaching. Processed samples from the lab in Spain will be sent to specialized genomic laboratories for analysis, and the IMARCS team writes up the results (with input from Dr. Moles and Dr. Arranz) with the aim of publishing them in peer-reviewed journals.
"Access to a working molecular lab and support from two experienced scientists willing to give their time is a huge advantage for a small foundation," said Flagel. "We want to be precise about what this is: shared lab space, shared expertise, and a lot of goodwill. Though it isn't an institutional partnership, having access to the lab alone means a lot to us in terms of moving our publications forward, and we're beyond grateful to Vanessa and Juan for their generosity in giving their time and expertise to our flagship research."
Dr. Arranz is a marine molecular ecologist and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow. Dr. Moles is a mollusc specialist who has helped describe dozens of new species and previously held a postdoctoral position at Harvard University.
About the IMARCS Foundation
The IMARCS Foundation is a U.S. 501(c)(3) marine science nonprofit focused on giant clams, coral reefs, mangroves, and ocean chemistry, with a research and education facility in Japan. Learn more at imarcs.org.
Media Contact
Jordan Flagel, Vice President and Lead Researcher
The IMARCS Foundation
[email protected]
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