Students
Martha Hauff: mhauff@rsmas.miami.edu
PhD. Student
Most coral reef fishes exhibit a bipartite life cycle whereby benthic-oriented adults spawn larvae that spend days to months in the pelagic (open ocean) environment before settling back onto the reef and metamorphosing into juveniles. This pelagic larval period is integral to reef fish population dynamics, and is the central mechanism by which inter-population exchange of individuals (i.e. population connectivity) can occur. Thus, pelagic larval fish condition will constitute the focus of my research. In my dissertation I plan to sample larvae from both nearshore and offshore environments in and around the Florida Keys reef tract, and then use otolith-derived growth measurements and newly developed biochemical assays to compare the nutritional conditions of both locally spawned and distantly spawned larvae. This work will hopefully elucidate some of the factors that contribute to larval fish survival, and should help to assess the potential for distantly spawned larvae to effectively contribute to a given reef fish population.
In addition to my interest in the early life history of fishes, I also enjoy spending time “running through the fields” and drinking grande, non-fat, sugar-free vanilla, sugar-free hazelnut chai lattes at Starbucks.
Jonathan Kool: jkool@rsmas.miami.edu
PhD. Student
My research is chiefly concerned with evaluating the role of migration and other population genetic processes in creating and maintaining genetic structure in coral reef ecosystems. The results have practical application for conservation work, particularly with regards to designing marine protected areas (MPAs). Most of my work involves developing individual-based and probability-based computer simulations. These simulations are spatially explicit, and interface with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). I also have a strong interest in landscape ecology, and applying its principles to the study of coastal ecosystems.
Joel Llopiz: jllopiz@rsmas.miami.edu
PhD. Student
My interests and foci are on the trophodynamic side of larval fish ecology. I have been part of the three-year study within the Straits of Florida that has the primary focus of adding to our knowledge of the early life history of Atlantic billfishes. My efforts have concentrated on the feeding ecology of these and other larvae by investigating the dynamics associated with time, space and ontogeny. Other taxa of interest are the other scombroids and many coral reef fishes, which especially lack information on trophodynamics and the influence of feeding. Not only are the diets of these larvae being documented, but we are also looking at the influence of the prey environment (type and abundance) on diet choice, feeding intensity and growth of the larvae. This approach in the tropical/subtropical open ocean appears to be completely novel, especially on the time and space scales associated with this study. I also enjoy romantic, candlelit dinners and sunset walks on the beach.
David Richardson: drichardson@rsmas.miami.edu
PhD. Student
My dissertation research addresses how physical and biological oceanographic processes affect the movement, spawning distribution and early life history of billfish and other pelagic species. The first portion of this work is an assemblage study focused on the larvae of ˜35 large and medium size pelagic species (e.g. tuna, billfish, opah, oilfish). The dataset used for this analysis is unique in its temporal scope (24 monthly cruises), its size (15,000 larvae), the extent of concurrently collected physical measurements and in the fact that most taxa are identified to species level either morphologically or by utilizing of a novel molecular identification technique (Richardson et al, in press). The second portion of my research is focused on determining the within Straits distribution of spawning in blue marlin and sailfish and the overall egg production of these two species in this region. For this portion of the study, PSAT tags were also deployed on adult sailfish to address the residency times of individuals on the SF spawning ground during the spawning season. Finally, a portion of my work will address the role of Florida Current frontal eddies in larval transport and as spawning habitat. Over a three day period in 2004 we tracked three drifters deployed in a sub-mesoscale frontal eddy containing very high abundances of both billfish and clupeid larvae.
ALUMNI
Michelle Paddack: mpaddack@rsmas.miami.edu
John Purcell: jpurcell@rsmas.miami.edu
Mark Sullivan: Mark.Sullivan@stockton.edu
Stacy Luthy: saluthy@ncsu.edu