From Australia’s Great Barrier Reef to the Caribbean islands, the message is clear: coral reefs are struggling. Many that have dedicated their lives to these ecosystems are seeing them vanish in front of their eyes. Coral reef scientists wake up to this reality every day and have been waking up to this reality for a long time! The increasing amount of negative news reports can be discouraging and exhausting. These messages of hopelessness can be especially demotivating to young and early career scientists. There is, of course, a valid need to highlight the urgency of our situation in order to inspire action. However, in parallel, there is also a need to focus on opportunities and actions that can change our current course—both to motivate the next generation of scientists and society.

Despite the negative headlines, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic and to have hope that there may be a positive outcome for coral reefs. In recent years, increasing public and political awareness has led to a number of new movements in reef conservation internationally. Indeed, awareness of the importance of our reefs and our oceans at large has given rise to the next United Nations Decade subject: The UN Decade of Ocean Science. Most importantly, though, is that these efforts range far beyond just scientists and scientific byproducts. The global community, from concerned locals to passionate citizens far from reefs, plays an increasingly significant role in the fight to save coral reefs. Scientific research provides the backbone for well-informed actions and decision-making processes at local and international scales. But scientific efforts must go hand in hand with community engagement and advocacy. As such, hope for the future of coral reefs lies at the intersection of science and society.