Barbara Block

The Block lab investigates endothermy in fish including cellular, ecological and evolutionary physiology. Cellular basis for endothermic metabolism. Research at sea is focused on understanding the movements and physiological ecology of tunas and billfishes to gain insight into the selective advantage of endothermy in fish and habitat utilization.

Mark Denny

Mechanical design of intertidal organisms. This subject is studied at many different levels of organization, from the molecular, through the material, structural, and organismal, to the ecological.

Anthony De Tomaso

Using a combination of genetic, genomic and cell biological approaches we are studying the phenomenon of self/non-self recognition in a primitive chordate organism, Botryllus schlosseri. This interaction links together a number of disparate fields, including immunology, stem cell, developmental, and evolutionary biology, and also has ecological consequences. Several unique aspects of the Botryllus life history make it a novel, experimentally accessible model organism to ask pertinent questions in these distinct disciplines.

David Epel

How development takes place in the marine environment, especially how embryos resist the effects of such environmental stresses as ultraviolet radiation, pathogens and natural and man-made toxins. How can the oocyte or the few-celled embryo protect itself from pathogens such as bacteria, ultraviolet radiation, or the effects of toxins, both natural and manmade?

William Gilly

Mechanisms involved in the cellular regulation of properties, density, and spatial distribution of voltage-gated Na and K channels and of ionotropic glutamate receptors cloned from the squid nervous system and expressed in frog oocytes and insect cells.

Fiorenza Micheli

We are investigating how coastal marine assemblages are shaped through the interplay of physical factors and biological interactions, and examining how much of the observed variation in these assemblages can be attributed to human impacts on the marine environment.

Stephen Palumbi

We study genetics, evolution, conservation, population biology and systematics in a wide variety of marine organisms. Primary focus is the use of molecular genetic techniques in conservation, including identification of dolphin and whale products in commercial markets. Also, molecular evolution of reproductive isolation and its influence on speciation.

George Somero

We study how changes in protein sequence and in the intracellular milieu in which protein function occurs enable organisms to succeed in diverse environments. By comparing homologous proteins from animals adapted to different temperatures, we have shown that only minor differences in habitat temperature are sufficient to favor evolutionary changes.

Stuart Thompson

Signal transduction mechanisms in neurons with the goal of better understanding how neurons process information. Signal cascades initiated by G-protein coupled receptors and egional specialization of function in neurons and the role that localized clusters of ion channels play in the processing of information by the cell.