My research program is conducted in modern and ancient marine environments. I am presently funded by the Petroleum Research Fund (American Chemical Society) for a three-year interval to conduct a comparative study of gradients in reef coral community composition in modern and Pleistocene assemblages present in coastal Western Australia. To facilitate the research, I was appointed a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia. I spent 2003-04 at the School of Earth and Geographical Sciences working with Dr. Karl-Heinz Wyrwoll.
I have also been involved in extensive reef survey work in modern environments. Much of this work is an outgrowth of my research involving the sedimentologic and biologic influences on the preservation potential (taphonomy) of marine invertebrates. I have applied the results of my research to currently salient issues including coral reef management and the response of coral communities to climate change, as well as more "traditional" paleontologic issues including paleoecologic reconstructions, evolutionary histories and patterns of diversity of echinoid echinoderms.
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2003-Present - Comparison of Pleistocene and modern reef-coral communities present along the coast of Western Australia. More information. |
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1998-2002 - Atlantic-Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA). Compartive analyses of reef coral communities in Belize and the Bahamas and their response to El Nino and Hurricane Events. More information. |
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1994-1996 - Effect of preservation bias on the fossil record of coral reefs. Surface and saturation diving in the Florida Keys to compare living and dead coral communities in shallow and deep reef habitats. More information. |
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1992-1995 - Preservation potential of outbreaks of the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish on the Great Barrier Reef. Examined the ability of the reef sedimentary record to preserve pre-human outbreaks. More information. |
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1989-1992 - Impact of Hurricane Hugo on benthic molluscan communites, St. Croix, U.S.V.I. More information. |
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1986-1993 - The effect of preservation bias on the fossil record of echinoid echinoderms. San Salvador, Bahamas and St. Croix, U.S.V.I. More information. |
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1984-1986 - Preservation potential of the mass mortality of the echinoid Diadema antillarum in Bonaire, N.A., and Andros, Bahamas. More information. |