Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology

The Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Science group has strong research expertise in the population and community ecology of terrestrial and marine environments, evolutionary biology and behavior, ecological immunology, conservation biology, neurobiology and biomimetics, fisheries biology, and climate change science and modeling. In both the laboratory and field, this interdisciplinary research breadth emphasizes the power of experiments to address fundamental and critical issues such as the importance of species interactions and diversity to the functioning of ecosystems as well as the impact of invasive species, climate change (rising temperatures and ocean acidification), coastal pollution, disease, and habitat destruction on natural communities. In addition, expertise in underwater robotics is providing novel solutions to enhance environmental sensing capabilities with strong applications to sustainability and homeland security. Funding sources for this group have included multiple NSF awards, including an NSF Career Award and multiple NSF Graduate Fellowship Awards, and awards from NOAA Sea Grant, the DOE, and DARPA. This group’s research program is highly productive and has published in the field’s most prestigious scientific journals including Science, PNAS, Ecology Letters, Proceedings of the Royal Society, and Ecology. Students interested in organismal and evolutionary biology benefit from hands-on research experiences in the laboratory and field at the Marine Science Center and field sites and research stations around the world (Panama, Costa Rica, Antarctica, Iceland, China, the South Pacific). Most members of this group are located at the Marine Science Center, for which the following link provides additional information: http://www.northeastern.edu/marinescience/