Projects
Gorgonian corals
Biodiversity, phenotypic plasticity and speciation
Mesophotic reefs
The Evolutionary history of corals at these ecosystems
Deep-sea octocorals
Phylogeography at Southern and Pacific oceans
Ocean acidification effects
Calcification Response of gorgonian corals (Cnidaria: Octocorallia) to elevated concentrations of pCO2
Parrotfish and zooxanthellae
Assessing resilience in Caribbean coral reefs
Octocoral diseases and invasive species
Regional effects at the Tropical Eastern Pacific
Evaluating Marine Protected Areas
A Socioecological Resilience Approach
Scientific literacy
Scienific divulgation
About
Our interests are centered in the interaction between ecology and evolution, particularly of coral reef invertebrates such as octocorals, black corals, corals and sponges (and their symbionts). We are focusing on bridging phenotypic plasticity and ecological speciation as well as finding underlying adaptations to environmental conditions (including rising seawater temperature) and/or specialist symbionts in populations of coral reef organisms. However, we are doing a great effort to transfer our knowledge and research to the regions and local communities from the areas we have been working in the last few years. In addition, we have a number of synergies and funded projects on marine conservation biology, socioecological systems, octocoral systematics and community ecology. We follow an integrative biology approach including strong field, lab and computational components in our research.
PEOPLE
Juan A. Sánchez
Principal Investigator
Students
Ph.D. M.Sc. and B.Sc. Students