Research and conservation work includes an international program, where the center has studied and sought to protect the threatened Banggai cardinalfish and its coral reef habitat in Indonesia.  This work has resulted in the Banggai cardinalfish being included as an endangered species on IUCN Red List of Threatened and Endangered Species, the FIRST saltwater aquarium fish to be listed as endangered in the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), the publication of "The Banggai Cardinalfish: Natural History, Conservation, and Culture of Pterapogon kauderni", and numerous peer review journal articles. 