Fellowships in the UNU-INWEH Connectivity Project

The Connectivity Project supports five students from the Caribbean region through Fellowships, each focusing on specific research subjects:

Ainhoa Leon Zubillaga

Ainhoa is from Venezuela and finished her Masters degree with honors in Biological Sciences at Universidad Simón Bolívar in 2005. Ainhoa enrolled in a PhD program this year under supervision of Dra. Caroline Bastidas of this same University. Her major interest is to study different ecological, biological and genetic aspects of the threatened coral species Acropora palmata. Her research focuses on: (1) the analysis of genetic connectivity of Acropora palmata populations along the Mesoamerican barrier reef system; (2) the study of patterns of dispersion through immunological assays that will allow to specifically detect larvae of this species in the plankton; (3) the study of larval biology of this species; and (4) determination of survivorship and growth rates of new Acropora palmata settlers in the field. Ainhoa is seconded to the Georgia Institute of Technology (USA) and the University of Waterloo (Canada).

Laboratorio de Comunidades Marinas Universidad Simón Bolívar Venezuela
email: alzubillaga@gmail.com ; alzubillaga@hotmail.com

Angela Maria Mojica

Angela is from Colombia, and completed her Masters degree at Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, majoring in Tropical Ecology and Marine Biology. Angela has been involved in numerous field trips investigating terrestrial and marine environments along the Atlantic coast of Guatemala, where she developed her thesis project using remote sensing techniques to study the impact of suspended sediment inputs and transportation on the coral reefs. From 2003 to 2005 Angela worked for the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef Project –MBRS, as part of the Synoptic Monitoring Team of Guatemala. In 2004 she became part of the Connectivity Working Group, collaborating with the fish and lobster recruitment monitoring program. Angela is pursuing a Master degree in Marine Ecology with Dr. Mark J. Butler at Old Dominion University, VA and is currently studying the effect of the herbivorous spiny crab (Mithrax spinosissimus) on the algal community within the coral reef ecosystems in the Florida Keys.

Dept. of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University (USA)

Email: amoji001@odu.edu or am_mojica_o@yahoo.es

Eva Maria Salas De la Fuente

Eva is from Costa Rica and works under the supervision of Dr. Helena Molina of the Universidad de Costa Rica, in collaboration with Dr. Dan Heath, Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Ontario. Her research focuses on trying to understand coral reef fish connectivity using molecular genetics in the bicolor damselfish, Stegastes partitus, which is a benthic, non migratory reef fish with a pelagic larval phase. The aim is to determine if the juveniles that settle in the reefs are self-recruiting. For this purpose, they use microsatellite markers and genotype assignment tests. They predict that if the larvae are retained in a reef, then the adult and juvenile fish living in it will have similar genotypes, in contrast, if larvae come from elsewhere, then the juvenile genotypes will be very different from those of the resident adult populations. Currently Eva is doing work on coral reefs in Belize, Costa Rica and Panama.

Universidad de Costa Rica

Email: salas.e@gmail.com

Isabel Porto Morales

Isabel is from Bogota, Colombia. Isabel's interest is corals reef ecology and population dynamics. Isabel is currently pursuing a Masters degree under the guidance of Dr. Camilo Salazar at the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, Instituto de Genetica. Her masters thesis is part of the Connectivity Working Group, and her research focuses on evaluating the demographic and genetic connectivity of Montastraea faveolata among reefs of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef to assess past and recent levels of gene flow via larval dispersal. Part of her work is to conduct microsatellite analyses and to screen all new M. faveolata samples with nine optimized primers and primers for additional loci which will be optimized. In the future she would like to include connectivity of M. faveolata symbionts, and experiments on M. faveolata larval life history into her research. Isabel is seconded to the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Universidad de los Andes, Bogota, Colombia

Email: i-portq@uniandes.edu.co

Nathaniel Alvarado

Nathaniel is from Belize and commenced his studies at the University of Maine in September 2005.  Initially, he extended his 2-year degree from the University of Belize into a 4-year Bachelor of Science degree, and to continue at the University of Maine for a Masters degree. Nathaniel studied with Dr. Robert Steneck, University of Maine and participated in the coral recruitment component. Nathaniel returned to Belize during the end of 2007.

School of Marine Science, University of Maine (USA)

Email: cruise192003@yahoo.com

Pablo Saenz Agudelo 

Pablo is from Colombia and finished his Master's degree in Coastal Oceanography in France at the Pierre et Marie Curie University in June 2007. He is currently enrolled in a PhD program of the Ecole Pratique de Hautes Etudes under Dr. Serge Planes' supervision and will be located in the Centre de Biologie et d'Ecologie Tropicale et Méditerranéenne in Perpignan University campus. Pablo's research focusses on coral reef fish connectivity, using a molecular genetic approach in the panda clownfish Amphiprion polymnus in Papua New Guinea.  He will concentrate on : (1) the study of self recruitment and local connectivity, using microsatellite markers assessing parentage relationships using likelihood-based  analysis tests; and this will be monitored over three years to assess temporal variability;  and (2) investigating if recruiting larvae show specific phenotypes that are correlated to their local origins (female size, habitat quality, etc).

Pierre et Marie Curie University

Email: pablo.saenzagudelo@gmail.com