Personnel
Principal Investigator
| Affiliation | Areas of Research | Phone | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deron Burkepile | UC Santa Barbara | Community ecology of coral reefs | 805 893-3067 |
Co-Principal Investigators
| Affiliation | Areas of Expertise | Phone | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Carpenter | CSU Northridge | Coral reef metabolism, ocean acidification | 818 677-3256 | |
| Peter Edmunds | CSU Northridge | Coral reef ecology, coral ecopohysiology | 818 677-2502 | |
| Sally Holbrook | UC Santa Barbara | Community ecology of fishes | 805 893-3956 | |
| Russell J. Schmitt | UC Santa Barbara | Population dynamics of fishes and invertebrates | 805 893-2051 |
Investigators
| Affiliation | Areas of Expertise | Phone | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Adam | UC Santa Barbara | Community ecology of coral reefs | 805 893-7625 | |
| Giacomo Bernardi | UC Santa Cruz | Population genetics of fishes | 831 459-5124 | |
| Cherie Briggs | UC Santa Barbara | Theoretical ecology and systems biology | 805 893-2199 | |
| Andrew Brooks | UC Santa Barbara | Population and community ecology of reef fishes / MCR Diving and Boating Safety Officer | 805 893-7670 | |
| Scott Burgess | Florida State University | Ecology, evolution, and population genetics of cryptic species of Pocillopora corals. | ||
| Adrienne Correa | University of California Berkeley | Diversity and evolutionary histories of marine microorganisms; the context-dependent roles of dinoflagellate symbionts, bacteria and viruses in host health and disease; and the influence of microbes on ecosystem function and persistence. | ||
| Erika Eliason | UC Santa Barbara | How functional traits shape species distributions. | ||
| Mark Hay | Georgia Institute of Technology | Chemical Ecology, Reef Ecology, Consumer-Prey Interactions | 404 894-8429 | |
| Jim Hench | Duke University | Shallow water physical oceanography | 650 759-6639 | |
| James Leichter | UC San Diego | Physical - biological coupling | 858 822-5330 | |
| Hunter Lenihan | UC Santa Barbara | Marine stressor - demography linkages | 805 893-8629 | |
| Stephane Maritorena | UC Santa Barbara | Remote sensing of coral reefs & ocean waters | 805 893-4308 | |
| Holly Moeller | UC Santa Barbara | Mathematical and community ecology, the role of acquired metabolism in changing the dynamics of living communities. | ||
| Craig Nelson | University of Hawai'i at Manoa | Marine microbial ecology and organic cycling | 808 956-0566 | |
| Hollie Putnam | University of Rhode Island | Coral ecophysiology and epigenetics | 401 874-9510 | |
| Andrew Rassweiler | Florida State University | Resilience and abrupt ecological state change | ||
| Raphael Ritson-Williams | CSU Northridge | I combine experimental and field ecology with genomics. | (818) 677-4427 | |
| Nyssa Silbiger | University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa | How natural environmental variability, global climate change, and species interactions shape community processes across different spatial and temporal scales. | ||
| Adrian Stier | UC Santa Barbara | How species interactions drive ecosystem assembly, biodiversity, and resilience. | ||
| Rebecca Vega-Thurber | UC Santa Barbara | Environmental microbiology | 541 737-1851 | |
| Linda Wegley Kelly | UC San Diego | Investigating the invisible to understand the macro. |
Post Doctoral Associates & Researchers
| Affiliation | Areas of Expertise | Phone | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandra Brown | UC Santa Barbara | Coral ecology | ||
| Shalanda Grier | UC Santa Barbara | How press and pulse disturbances affect ecological interactions, resilience, and trait dynamics across different levels of organization (e.g., species to community) | ||
| Christian John | UC Santa Barbara | Explores drivers of multiscale change in ecological systems | ||
| Rio Kashimoto | UC Santa Barbara | Evolutionary and Molecular biology | ||
| Scott Miller | UC Santa Barbara | Modeling spatial resilience of coral reefs | ||
| Ferdinand Pfab | UC Santa Barbara | Modeling biological systems: infections, evolution and population dynamics. |
Information & Data Management
| Affiliation | Role | Phone | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Adam | UC Santa Barbara | Community ecology of coral reefs | 805 893-7625 | |
| Andrew Brooks | UC Santa Barbara | Population and community ecology of reef fishes / MCR Diving and Boating Safety Officer | 805 893-7670 | |
| Hillary Krumbholz | UC Santa Barbara | Information Management and Data Visualization | ||
| Li Kui | UC Santa Barbara | Information Management |
Education and Outreach
| Affiliation | Role | Phone | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Brooks | UC Santa Barbara | Education and Outreach Coordinator | 805 893-7670 |
Graduate Students
| Affiliation | Research Topic | Advisor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noam Altman-Kurosaki | Georgia Institute of Technology | Anthropogenic impacts on the interactions between corals, algae, and fish | Mark Hay | |
| Jill Ashey | The University of Rhode Island | Examining the molecular mechanisms of coral acclimatization and development. | ||
| Danielle Becker | University of Rhode Island | Impacts of local and global anthropogenic stressors on coral reef resilience. | Hollie Putnam | |
| Stephanie Bilodeau | Georgia Institute of Technology | Species interactions and the ways that small-scale chemical ecology and behavior shape community structure and create large-scale patterns across landscapes and seascapes. | Mark Hay | |
| Noe Castenada | UC Santa Barbara | Morphological and behavioral variation in feeding interactions of reef fishes | Deron Burkepile | |
| Dennis Conetta | University of Rhode Island | Coral ecology | Hollie Putnam | |
| Sadie Cwikiel | UC Santa Barbara | Climate change impacts on physical-ecological connections in coral reef ecosystems | ||
| Adelaide Dahl | UC Santa Barbara | Coral ecology | ||
| Emilia Dell'Antonio | CSU Northridge | Coral reef ecology | Peter Edmunds | |
| Zoe Dellaert | The University of Rhode Island | Tropical corals and their resilience to climate change and warming oceans | Hollie Putnam | |
| Raine Detmer | UC Santa Barbara | Using models to better understand species interactions in marine communities and how these interactions may be affected by environmental stressors | Holly Moeller | |
| Laurel Diaz | CSU Northridge | Coral ecology | Nyssa Silbiger | |
| Olivia Diehl | CSU Northridge | Investigating the interactive effects of herbivory and water flow on the morphology and metabolic rates of noncalcifying marine macroalgae. | Robert Carpenter | |
| Alexandra Dubel | Florida State University | Spatial dynamics of ecological change and human impacts on coral reefs | Andrew Rassweiler | |
| Willow Dunster | UC Berkeley | Cnidarian-algal symbiosis and the world of microbial ecology | Adrienne Correa | |
| Lauren Enright | UC Santa Barbara | How a gradient of grazing pressure interacts with nutrient enrichment to influence algal patch dynamics. | Deron Burkepile | |
| Florence Fields | The University of Rhode Island | Coral physiological and morphological characteristics and transgenerational epigenetic effects in response to their environmental stressors | Hollie Putnam | |
| Pierrick Harnay | University of Rhode Island / University of Haifa | Corals responses under environmental conditions through genetic and skeletal analyses. | Hollie Putnam | |
| Olivia Isbell | UC Santa Barbara | Understanding the ecological impacts of severe disturbances on coral reefs ecosystems and the drivers for recovery | Deron Burkepile | |
| Nicolas Jeffress | Duke University | Moorea/Tetiaroa circulation and wave modeling | Jim Hench | |
| Carly Karrick | UC Berkeley | Coral microbial symbioses in the context of global change, with a particular interest in the role of endosymbionts in influencing coral response to climate-related stressors | Adrienne Correa | |
| Mackenzie Kawahara | UC Santa Barbara | Coral reef microbiomes | Rebecca Vega-Thurber | |
| Savanah Leidholt | Oregon State University | Puffy Snout Syndrome (PSS) | Rebecca Vega-Thurber | |
| Cannon Mallory | UC Santa Barbara | Development of remote molecular ecology protocols with special interest in omic based approaches | Cherie Briggs | |
| Rayna McClintock | University of Hawai'i at Mānoa | Coastal oceanography and microbial community ecology | Craig Nelson | |
| Hannah Merges | CSU Northridge | Submarine groundwater discharge and its impact on coral metabolism and coral larval settlement in Moorea | Nyssa Silbiger | |
| Nury Molina | UC Santa Barbara | Role of herbivorous fish in promoting coral reef resilience. | Deron Burkepile | |
| Catherine Mullenmeister | UC San Diego | Coral ecology | Linda Wegley Kelly | |
| Shannon Nelson-Maney | California State University San Diego | Coral reef restoration in Moorea French Polynesia | ||
| Alexander Primo | University of Georgia | Coral ecology | Craig Osenberg | |
| Julianna Renzi | UC Santa Barbara | How coral-associated biodiversity mediates coral resistance to climate stress. | Deron Burkepile | |
| Kacie Ring | UC Santa Barbara | Disease ecology, host-parasite interactions, tick-borne pathogens, community ecology, transcriptomics | Cherie Briggs | |
| Keanu Rochette-Ys Tsuen | University of Hawai'i at Mānoa | Coral ecology | ||
| Emily Schmeltzer | Oregon State University | Coral microbial ecology | Rebecca Vega-Thurber | |
| Shara Sookhoo | UC Berkeley | The role of viruses in coral bleaching and disease | Adrienne Correa | |
| Sean Swift | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa | How microbes eat different organic compounds and also how they might use them to communicate with host organisms, like terrestrial plants, algae, and coral | Craig Nelson | |
| Taylor Walker | UC Berkeley | Coral Microbial Ecology | Adrienne Correa | |
| Madeleine Ward | UC Santa Barbara | Trophic ecology | Deron Burkepile | |
| Madison Willert | Georgia Institute of Technology | Coral reef biology, climate change, ecology | Mark Hay | |
| Lauren Zane | The University of Rhode Island | Coral physiology in response to climate change induced stress (shifting phenology, rising ocean temperatures, deoxygenation) |
Field and Laboratory Technicians
| Affiliation | Role | Phone | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Molly Brzezinski | UC Santa Barbara | Coral ecology and eco-physiology | ||
| Hillary Krumbholz | UC Santa Barbara | Information Management and Data Visualization | ||
| Kylie Powers | CSU Northridge | Ecology of coral reefs |
Current Collaborators
| Affiliation | Areas of Expertise | Phone | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jake Allgeier | University of Michigan | Role of fish derived nutrients in coral reef ecosystems | ||
| Alessandro Capra | Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia | Photogrammetry of coral reefs | ||
| Cody Clements | Georgia Institute of Technology | How local and global changes reshape ecological interactions and the implications of these changes for ecosystem function and management. | ||
| Steeve Comeau | University of Western Australia | Impacts of climate change on calcium carbonate budgets of coral reefs | ||
| Ross Cunning | Shedd Aquarium | Coral symbiosis ecology and modelling | ||
| Mary Donovan | University of Hawai'i | Applied coral reef ecology | ||
| Jose Eirin-Lopez | Florida International University | The study of marine environmental epigenetics using molecular, ecological and toxicological approaches. | ||
| Armin Gruen | ETH-Zurich | Photogrammetric extraction of objects from aerial and satellite images. | ||
| Dan Holstein | Luisiana State University | Empirical marine ecology and ecological modeling | ||
| Ariana Huffmyer | University of Washington | Coral reef ecophysiology | ||
| Geoff Jones | James Cook University (Australia) | Ecology of reef fishes | ||
| Mohsen Kayal | Institute of Research for Development | Coral community resilience | ||
| Linda Wegley Kelly | San Diego State University | Responses of the coral holobiont to changes due to local and global stressors. | ||
| Matthew Lauer | San Diego State University | Resilience and vulnerability of coastal communities to climate change and natural disasters | ||
| Matthieu Leray | Smithsonian Tropical Reserach Institute | The use of experimental and metagenomics approaches to understand how species interactions structure natural communities on coral reefs. | ||
| Jamie McDevitt-Irwin | University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa | Evaluates how coral reef biodiversity - from fishes, corals, algae, and invertebrates to the coral microbiome - are driven by anthropogenic stressors such as the loss of herbivorous fishes, nutrient pollution, and marine heat waves. | ||
| Fabio Menna | FBK - Bruno Kessler Foundation | Underwater photogrammetry | ||
| Vanessa Messmer | James Cook University (Australia) | Ecology of reef fishes | ||
| Chris Meyer | Smithsonian Institution | Genomics of coral reef organisms | ||
| Erik Muller | Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology | Modeling: ecological & dynamic energy budget | ||
| Phil Munday | James Cook University (Australia) | Ecology of reef fishes | ||
| Kerry Nickols | CSU Northridge | Spatial dynamics of coastal marine organisms as they are affected by physical processes and anthropogenic influences. | ||
| Erica Nocerino | Università degli Studi di Sassari | Underwater photogrammetry | ||
| Margaret O'Brien | UC Santa Barbara | SBC-LTER Information Manager | ||
| Craig Osenberg | University of Georgia | Reef fish ecology, assessment and design of MPAs | ||
| Serge Planes | CRIOBE (France) | Genomics of coral reef organisms | ||
| Steven Roberts | University of Washington | Characterizing physiological response of aquatic species to environmental change | ||
| Johanna Rosman | UNC Chapel Hill | Environmental Fluid Mechanics / Physical Oceanography | ||
| Andy Shantz | Pennsylvania State University | Impacts of nutrients on coral reef mutualisms | ||
| Kelly Speare | Texas Tech University | Community ecology of coral reefs | ||
| Andrew Thurber | Oregon State University | The impact of metazoan diet on biogeochemical processes mediated by archaea and bacteria. | ||
| Matthias Troyer | MIcrosoft Corporation | High performance computing and quantum computing, simulations of quantum devices and island ecosystems. | ||
| Jean Wencelius | Cultural anthropologist specializing in the field of human ecology |


