Contact: dbernal@umassd.edu
Office: Violette Research Building 115
Phone: 508-999-8307
My research interests focus on fish biology, more specifically, the comparative physiology of fishes. I am particularly interested in the comparison of the morphological, physiological, and biochemical specializations of high-performance fishes (i.e., tunas, billfishes, and lamnid sharks). I am interested in understanding the progression of character-state acquisition leading to the suite of specializations present in these derived high-performance marine fishes and addressing questions on the biological mechanisms that distinguish high-performance fishes from all other fishes.
For more information please see Dr. Bernal's faculty profile
Contact: ebromage@umassd.edu
Office: SENG 327
Phone: 508-999-8218
My research interests are in broad areas of comparative immunology, but there is an emphasis in my laboratory on antibody mediated protection. Antibodies are proteins responsible for antigen (pathogen) recognition, leading to neutralization and eventual destruction of the pathogen. The highly polymorphic nature of the antibody binding domain allows them to recognize billions of different pathogens. My laboratory focuses on the structure of the antibody, the cells responsible for antibody production, and the quality of the antibody for pathogen recognition.
For more information please see Dr. Bromage's faculty profile
For the past 30 years I have worked on a unique population of Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Most of my work has focused on alliances formed by adult males in competition over estrus females. These alliances are remarkable for their complexity. The males form three levels of nested alliances, a phenomenon that has no match outside of our own species. Our findings have important implications for current thinking about the role complex social relationships had in the evolution of large brain size and intelligence in mammals. We are working on over 100 adult males in the population and are launching a fully integrated study that examines alliance formation from multiple perspectives, including communication, cognition, genetics, ecology, and development.
In addition to working in Shark Bay, my graduate students have worked on dolphins and whales in a variety of locations in the US, Central America, the Caribbean and India, exploring a range of questions focused on behavior and ecology.
I also have a long-standing interest in theory, especially on the evolution of cooperation, altruism and mutualism and the evolution of social systems.
Contact: rconnor@umassd.edu
Phone: 508-999-8221
For more information please see Dr. Connor's faculty profile
My research integrates genomic and quantitative genetic approaches to investigate variation among populations, primarily behavioral and physiological adaptations in fish. Fishes are the most diverse group of vertebrates, and species have adapted to very different, often extreme environmental conditions. Projects in my laboratory combine genomics, quantitative genetics, and linkage analysis to investigate the genetic variation and physiological mechanisms underlying innovative adaptations.
In the long term, I am particularly interested in the following questions:
- What are the molecular mechanisms underlying these adaptations and how do they function?
- Are the same genes or pathways responsible for convergent adaptations in different species?
- Are suites of traits that co-evolve genetically co-regulated?
Contact: rdrew@umassd.edu
Office: SENG 328B
Phone: 508-999-8950
For more information please see Dr. Drew's faculty profile
My general research interests are in mechanisms of cell polarization, growth and development, and the role the environment plays in these processes.
Cell polarization, the generation of asymmetry within a cell, is an essential event underlying many biological processes. For example, in plant and animal embryos, polarity is often established in the egg or zygote, and ultimately determines the basic organization of tissues and organs within the organism. I am investigating this process in zygotes of marine brown algae in the genera Fucus and Silvetia, where polarity is established in the zygote by the position of fertilization, and can be reoriented by environmental signals such as unidirectional light. A dynamic actin cytoskeleton is required for both fertilization-induced polarization and light-induced reorientation of polarity. Current research questions include: 1) Which protein pathways regulate the assembly of actin filaments? 2) How do actin regulatory proteins respond to natural environmental cues? 3) How do environmental toxins disrupt polarity establishment and development?
In collaboration with Dr. Ken Oliveira, I am investigating gametogenesis and fertilization in the American eel, Anguilla rostrata. After spending many years in or near freshwater habitats, adults migrate to and spawn in the Sargasso Sea, where investigations of reproductive behavior and early development are not possible. We have developed protocols to induce sexual maturation of both male and female eels, and our research has resulted in the first successful artificial fertilization in this species. Current research questions include: 1) What are the stages and timing of early embryogenesis? 2) What are the effects of pollutants on gametogenesis and fertilization?
Contact: whable@umassd.edu
Office: Violette Research Building 205B
Phone: 508-999-8206
For more information please see Dr. Hable's faculty profile
I am essentially a comparative vertebrate embryologist, with broad interests in ecological and evolutionary questions. My current research aims to test whether processes during organ development can bias the production of variation (the phenotypes that are available for natural selection in a population) and thereby influence evolutionary patterns. I work on organ-systems with repeated elements that can vary in size; organs such as teeth or finger bones form in sequence from a single initial condensation, and, among species, there is significant variation in sizes. To test ideas and advance theory in this area, I employ methods from experimental embryology, comparative anatomy, developmental genetics, and computational modeling.
I also have a great interest in observing evolutionary and developmental processes in situ, that is, in nature and in response to ecological variation, and thus I study “natural evolutionary experiments” on populations of fishes. In these studies, I am focusing on interactions of developmental temperature and evolution of growth rates and tissue differentiation rates.
I welcome students and postdoctoral researchers who are interested in these research questions to contact me.
Contact: kkavanagh@umassd.edu
Office: SENG 332
Phone: 508-999-8248
For more information please see Dr. Kavanagh's faculty profile
Marine microbial ecology, diversity, distributions, and activity of marine microbes contributing to nitrogen fixation, and other microbially mediated transformations of nitrogen.
Ecology of toxin-producing cyanobacteria, cyanobacterial blooms.
Contact: pmoisander@umassd.edu
Office: SENG 330B
Phone: 508-999-2222
For more information please see Dr. Moisander's faculty profile
My research addresses questions related to the ecology of marine invertebrate animals, particularly coastal species of crabs. I am interested in factors important for the distribution and abundance of all stages of invertebrates.
Many marine invertebrates have complex life cycles encompassing both planktonic larval stages and benthic (bottom-dwelling) juvenile and adult stages. The transition from planktonic to benthic life represents a critical stage in development of invertebrates.
What cues a larva to settle to the bottom of the ocean and metamorphose to a juvenile? My research focuses on habitat characteristics that stimulate or inhibit the settlement and metamorphosis (molting) of late-stage larvae of crabs, called megalopae, both in the laboratory and the field.
In addition, since the late 1990s my lab group has been investigating the ecological impacts of the invasion of the Asian shore crab, Hemigrapsus sanguineus, on coastal ecosystems, focusing on the potential effects of the Asian shore crab on resident crab species and the incorporation of the crab into food webs as both predator and prey.
Contact: noconnor@umassd.edu
Office: SENG 336A
Phone: 508-999-8217
For more information please see Dr. O'Connor's faculty profile
My research interest covers a comprehensive array of topics pertaining to the biology of fishes with an emphasis on the biology of American eels. The American eel is found in every aquatic habitat type in eastern North America. It has a long and complex life history that provides an interesting model for studying life history strategies, sex determination, pollution effects, and other ecologically important issues. Current eel projects in my laboratory include: examinations of the distribution and physiological effects of the recently introduced swimbladder parasite, Changes in the digestive system during the adult metamorphosis, sex determination, effects of contaminants on gametogenesis, and the development of artificial fertilization methods (in collaboration with Dr. Whitney Hable's laboratory). In addition, my graduate students have often provided inspiration for research on other species and numerous non-eel projects have been and continue to be developed in my laboratory.
Contact: koliveira@umassd.edu
Office: Violette Research Building 106B
Phone: 508-999-9638 & 508-999-8227
For more information please see Dr. Oliveira's faculty profile
My research investigates the mechanisms that determine species diversity and composition in plant communities. I use novel analytical approaches to separate the effects of factors such as species pools, dispersal, resource stress, and competition on community structure. This work takes advantage of existing large datasets. I also use greenhouse and field experiments to examine the strategies plants use to compete for patchy belowground resources, and the effects of that competition on community structure.
Contact: trajaniemi@umassd.edu
Office: Violette Research Building 205A
Phone: 508-999-8223
For more information please see Dr. Rajaniemi's faculty profile
My research interests are in microbial activities in natural environments such as soil. Most of what we know about bacteria has been discovered using laboratory cultures of single species. Unlike traditional laboratory conditions, in complex environments such as soil bacteria need to respond to fluctuating environmental parameters, and must interact with a large number of other microbial species. We have found that in the presence of multiple bacterial species and while dwelling in soil, bacteria behave in ways which have never been observed in laboratory culture experiments.
Contact: msilby@umassd.edu
Office: SENG 335
Phone: 508-999-8365
For more information please see Dr. Silby's faculty profile
Long-term plankton and water-quality ecological survey of Buzzards Bay; plankton communities of Boston Harbor and adjacent waters; zooplankton feeding; food web accumulation and transport of red tide toxins; interactions between copepod feeding and reproductive success.
Contact: jturner@umassd.edu
Office: RES202
Phone: 508-999-8229 or 508-910-6332
For more information please see Dr. Turner's faculty profile