Marine Biology and Ecology

Department Faculty

Joseph Serafy

Research Professor & Editor, Bulletin of Marine Science

jserafy@rsmas.miami.edu

(305) 361-4255
Grosvenor South
4600 Rickenbacker Cswy
Room 219

My current research has three foci:

  1.  Examining the role of the seagrass-mangrove-reef complex in the ontogeny of     economically-valuable coral reef fishes (i.e., groupers, snappers, grunts, great barracuda);
  2.  Developing methods for, and assessing the effectiveness of, ecosystem restoration;
  3.  Furthering knowledge of the early life history, movement and conservation of pelagic fishes.


Elizabeth A Babcock

Professor

ebabcock@miami.edu

(305) 421-4852
Position and Research Expertise Beth Babcock is a Professor of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. She is an expert on fish population dynamics, quantitative ecology and fisheries management. Teaching and Mentoring Babcock teaches graduate course on...

Andrew Baker

Professor

abaker@miami.edu

(305) 421-4642
Professor Andrew Baker is a marine biologist whose research focuses on coral reefs and climate change. He directs the Coral Reef Futures Lab at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine Atmospheric, and Earth Science, focusing on the development and testing of methods to increase coral reef resilience. He also...

Lydia Jeanne Baker

Lecturer

ljb178@miami.edu

Lydia Jeanne Baker is a Lecturer of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. She serves as the track coordinator for students in the Masters of Professional Science (MPS) Tropical Marine Ecology (TME) program. Her research uses a...

Daniel Domingues Benetti

Professor
Director of Aquaculture

dbenetti@miami.edu

(305) 421-4889
Besides my academic and research credentials, I have extensive international professional experience, having worked, consulted, and established research, commercial and educational programs and projects for the private and government sectors in > 20 countries throughout 5 continents over the last 30 years. Expertise in obtaining funding,...

Larry E. Brand

Professor

lbrand@miami.edu

(305) 421-4138
Physiology, ecology and evolution of phytoplankton

William E Browne

Associate Professor

w.browne@miami.edu

(305) 284-3319
Research in my lab is focused on investigating patterns of change underlying animal diversity.  We employ a wide range of experimental approaches to explore the molecular genetic relationship between genotype and phenotype from both developmental and evolutionary perspectives. Current work in the lab primarily use cultures of the lobate...

Maria C. Cartolano

Lecturer

m.cartolano@umiami.edu

(305) 421-4346
Maria Cartolano is a Lecturer of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. She serves as the track coordinator Marine Mammal Science (MMS) track of the Masters of Professional Science (MPS) program. Her research interests include physiology, behavior, and...

Richard Coleman

Asst. Professor

rrc116@miami.edu

(305) 421-4986
Richard Coleman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Marine Biology and Ecology. His research focuses on the evolution and ecology of marine fishes. His research program uses genomics and field surveys to study the spatial scale of populations, the role of ecology and biology on species distrbutions, and the mechanisms that facilitate...

Ana Costa

Lecturer

axb2699@miami.edu

(305) 284-8376
Ana Costa, Ph.D. is a Lecturer of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. She is a specialist in marine mammalogy, with almost two decades of experience working in the field. Research As a researcher, Ana Costa uses an interdisciplinary approach (based on...

Douglas L Crawford

Professor

dcrawford@miami.edu

(305) 421-4121
My academic interests are to understand the basic properties of adaptation (e.g., the importance of standing genetic variation, are many of loci involved in adaptation, are there conserved pathways to resolve specific selective pressures,etc.).  Knowing this information provides insights into human health and diseases and how organisms...

Evan K D'Alessandro

Senior Lecturer
Director, Master of Professional Science Program

edalessandro@miami.edu

(305) 421-4848
Dr. Evan K. D’Alessandro is a lecturer and the director of the Master of Professional Science degree at the University of Miami. His area of expertise is coral reef fish ecology, particularly early life stages, but his research extends into many aspects of marine fish ecology. These include the ecology of mangrove associated fishes,...

David J Die

Research Assoc. Professor

ddie@miami.edu

(305) 421-4607
Research Expertise Professor Die has worked for 30 years on research devoted to the assessment and management of worldwide fisheries and his research has been instrumental in the development of major management changes to promote sustainability. He has current collaborative research links with scientists in scientific institutions all around the...

Lynne A. Fieber

Professor

lfieber@miami.edu

(305) 421-4906
Lynne Fieber is Professor in the Department of Marine Biology & Ecology. She studies the nervous system of marine animal models using behavioral, electrophysiological, and molecular techniques.

Martin Grosell

Professor
AND CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY

mgrosell@miami.edu

(305) 421-4623
Martin Grosell, PhD is the lead PI and director of the GoMRI funded research consortium RECOVER (http://recover.rsmas.miami.edu/). Dr. Grosell is a Maytag professor of ichthyology with specialty in environmental physiology and toxicology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Sciences in the...

Rachael M. Heuer

Research Asst. Professor

rheuer@miami.edu

(305) 421-4004
Dr. Rachael Heuer is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Marine Biology and Ecology. She studies the impacts of climate change stressors (ocean acidification and temperature) and crude oil on the physiology of marine fish and invertebrates.  

Erin Kobetz

Professor

ekobetz@miami.edu

(305) 243-6185
Dr. Erin Kobetz is Vice Provost for Research and Tenured Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Public Health Sciences, and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Additionally, she is Associate Director of Population Science and Cancer Disparities at UM’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer...

Chris Langdon

Professor

c.langdon@miami.edu

(305) 421-4614
Langdon studies the biology and ecology of corals with an emphasis on their responses to ocean warming and acidification. Courses taught include MSC 232 Marine Biology Lab, MSC409 Climate Change: Limits of Marine Invertebrate Adaptability, MBE 615 Tropical Marine Ecology, and MBE 621 Field Techniques and Instrumentation in Tropical...

Diego Lirman

Assoc. Professor

dlirman@miami.edu

(305) 421-4168
Diego Lirman currently works at the Department of Marine Biology & Ecology, University of Miami. Diego does research in Phycology, Marine Biology and Ecology. Their current project is 'Rescue A Reef Citizen Science Program.

Kevin McCracken

Assoc. Professor

kmccrack@miami.edu

(305) 284-9058
AREAS OF FOCUS Evolutionary Biology Tropical Ecology

M Danielle McDonald

Professor
Associate Dean of Research

dmcdonald@miami.edu

(305) 421-4856
Danielle McDonald is a Professor of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. She is an expert in fish physiology and behavior with a focus on how physiology and behavior may change during times of environmental stress such as social stress, pollution...

John W McManus

Professor

jmcmanus@miami.edu

(305) 421-4814
John W. McManus, PhD. is a Professor of Marine Biology and Fisheries at the Rosenstiel School of the University of Miami. In 2007, he chaired the Five-Year Review of the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, which led to major changes in its structure and activities. As the former Leader of the Aquatic Environments Program of the WorldFish...

Liza Merly

Senior Lecturer

lmerly@miami.edu

(305) 284-3629
Liza Merly is a senior lecturer of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. She is interested in comparative immunology and marine biomedicine using diverse animal models. She is interested in the use of the shark as a model for the evolution of the vertebrate...

Mohammad Moniruzzaman

Asst. Professor

mxm193819@miami.edu

Mohammad ‘Monir’ Moniruzzaman is an Assistant Professor at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Monir’s research interest is focused on the molecular and eco-evolutionary aspects of virus-host interactions using both experimental and computational biology approaches.

Vivek Nagendra Prakash

Asst. Professor
SECONDARY FACULTY IN BIOLOGY

vprakash@miami.edu

(305) 284-7121
The Prakash Lab at the University of Miami is a multidisciplinary Organismal Biomechanics Lab, working at the interface of Physics, Engineering and Biology. Our work is driven by a sense of curiosity, fascination and discovery. Organismal behavior results from emergent properties of a large number of physical and biological processes occurring...

Marjorie F Oleksiak

Professor

moleksiak@miami.edu

(305) 421-4341
Margie Oleksiak is a Professor in the Department of Marine Biology and Ecology.  Her research focuses on the importance of biological variation and how populations adapt to environmental change.

Peter B. Ortner

Research Professor

portner@miami.edu

(305) 421-4619
Physical regulation of biological systems; coastal zone management, ecosystem restoration, and fisheries management science and policy; coastal ecosystem effects of hurricane landfall; coastal ecosystem implications of regional and global climate change and climate variability; trophic relationships in marine plankton communities; phytoplankton...

Gabriel Reygondeau

Assoc. Professor

gxr866@miami.edu

(786) 942-3980 x+1

Michael C. Schmale

Professor
Director of the National Resource for Aplysia

mschmale@miami.edu

(305) 421-4140
Michael Schmale is a Professor of Marine Biology and Ecology and Director of the National Resource for Aplysia. Dr. Schmale’s research interests are in the development and study of marine animal models of disease processes, with an emphasis on cancer and viral diseases.

Paul Carl Sikkel

Research Professor

pcs75@miami.edu

Paul Sikkel, PhD is a Research Professor at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Sciences in the Department of Marine Biology and Ecology. His current research focus is on the ecology of host-parasite interactions in coral reef systems. Dr. Sikkel obtained his MSc (1990) and PhD (1993)...

Cynthia Silveira

Asst. Professor

cxs1538@miami.edu

(305) 284-6220
My lab studies a long-known but poorly appreciated member of all microbiomes: bacteriophages. Phages, for short, are viruses that infect bacteria and are the most abundant and diverse biological entities on the planet. Yet, we have only scratched the surface of their biological significance: 50 to 90 % of phages genomes sequenced to date have no...

John D. Stieglitz

Research Associate Professor

jstieglitz@miami.edu

(305) 421-4303
John Stieglitz is a research assistant professor at UM-Rosenstiel School. Utilizing approaches centered on applied ecophysiology and bioenergetics of marine fish, his research aims to address marine aquaculture production challenges while also developing a greater understanding of the impacts of both natural and anthropogenic induced...

Nikki Traylor-Knowles

Associate Professor
Secondary Faculty in Biology

ngt14@miami.edu

(410) 905-5107
Secondary Faculty in the Department of Biology Nikki Traylor-Knowles is an Associate Professor in Marine Biology and Ecology at the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science. She is a cell biologist that studies the evolution of immunity, wound healing, and regeneration. Her lab uses cell biology, genomics,...