Life Sciences

A scientist traverses between Everglades waterways and the Gulf coast, gathering samples that she will return to her lab and evaluate for Karenia brevis, the cause of persistent harmful algal blooms. Another dons a flame-orange jumpsuit on a Coast Guard cutter in the Arctic collecting zooplankton that seem to play a pivotal role in observing global climate change.  Yet another scuba dives at midnight in the Keys in the turbid August waters of hurricane season to study the once-a-year staghorn coral spawning. Back at Rosenstiel School are researchers who go between their flow cytometers and squat toadfish to retrieve genomic clues about ammonia toxicity that could ultimately help humans with early-onset liver disease.

These scenarios are but a fraction of the cutting-edge biologic research happening at Rosenstiel School and amongst its researchers. Rosenstiel School provides its students and faculty with field, laboratory, and theoretical research opportunities. Being situated adjacent to the only coral reef ecosystem of the continental United States, the Caribbean Sea and at the beginning of the Gulf Stream offers a variety of research venues.

Current areas of research include:

• Coral reef biology and ecology
• Fisheries biology and management for sustainability
• Mangrove and marshland ecology
• Coastal ecosystem ecology
• Theoretical marine life population dynamics
• Zooplankton and phytoplankton ecology
• Genomics
• Microbiology, marine toxins, and marine organism diseases
• Animal behavior and physiology
• Zoogeography and invertebrate systematics
• Fish stock assessment
• Marine reserves and ecological modeling

Groups

• Aplysia Facility
• Aquaculture
• Bimini Research Station
• Boating Research Center
• Center for Independent Experts
• Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS)
• Coral Reef Fish Ecology
• Coral Reef Research Group: Coral Ecology & Physiology
• Experimental Fish Hatchery
• Fisheries Ecosystem Modeling & Assessment Research (FEMAR)
• Fisheries Oceanography & Larval Ecology
• Fishery Management Group
• Genome Enable Marine Science (GEMS)
• Hydrosphere
• Invertebrate Museum
• Little Salt Spring Underwater Archaeological Project
• National Center for Coral Reef Research
• Organic Biogeochemistry Laboratory
• Pew Institute for Ocean Science
• Scientific Diving Program
• South Florida & Caribbean Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (SFCESU)
• Toadfish Lab
• Zooplankton Ecology