Life in the deep sea persists across vast, disconnected patches of habitat. How do reproductive strategies, dispersal, and recruitment maintain connectivity across these isolated communities? What physiological mechanisms underlie the basic biological processes - reproduction, dispersal, and recruitment - and how do these same processes maintain connectivity between populations?

 

My research integrates multiple 'omics tools, including population genomics, transcriptomics, comparative genomics, and metabarcoding, with fieldwork at sea to address these questions in octocorals and other benthic invertebrates across the Gulf of Mexico and the greater Caribbean. By applying next-generation sequencing technology to long-standing questions in basic reproductive and physiological biology, and through interdisciplinary collaborations, this work aims to identify the molecular underpinnings of connectivity maintenance and, ultimately, inform restoration of these vulnerable ecosystems.