Principal investigator
Dr Alastair Harborne (email)
I am originally from the UK, and after graduating I worked for Coral Cay Conservation. I then completed my PhD within the Marine Spatial Ecology Lab at the University of Exeter, and subsequently became a NERC Independent Research Fellow. I then moved to the University of Queensland, Australia and was an ARC DECRA Research Fellow. I became an Assistant Professor at Florida International University in 2016, and started the Tropical Fish Ecology Lab to research a range of questions relating to the effects of environmental change on reef fishes and how they should be best managed. I received tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in June 2022.
Post-doctoral researchers
Dr Robby Fidler (email)
I am a marine biologist and conservationist, with a focus on coral reef and fisheries management. I completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia and my graduate work at the Florida Institute of Technology, where I also served as a U.S. Student Fulbright Fellow in the Philippines. Broadly, my research examines the impact of marine protected areas (MPAs) on biodiversity and fisheries in coral reef ecosystems, primarily in Southeast Asia. I am particularly interested in understanding how MPAs alter fish community structure, population demographics, and life-history evolution, and how these shifts may affect larger metapopulations. At FIU, I am utilizing a range of data to investigate the ecological and social factors that underlie the successes and failures of community-based resource management efforts aimed at preserving coral reefs in Indonesia.
Dr Meg Malone (email)
I am a fish behavioral ecologist and coral reef ecologist. I earned a Bachelor of Science from the College of Charleston, and graduate degrees from Loyola University of Chicago and University of Illinois at Chicago. I use a wide range of research approaches to answer questions about fishes, including ecological theory, biological collections, and observational and experimental techniques. I specialize in foraging behavior and aim to understand how fishes assess tradeoffs between food and safety while foraging on coral reefs. As a postdoc on the FISHSCAPE team, I'm excited to explore how fish forage across seascapes and contribute to management decisions that support fishes and their habitat needs.
Post-graduate students
Drew Butkowski (PhD student) (email)
I am originally from North Carolina, and completed my undergraduate studies in marine science and biology at the University of Miami. My time at the University of Miami helped foster my enthusiasm for marine research and reef fish ecology. After graduating, I worked as a research assistant at the Central Caribbean Marine Institute in Little Cayman, Cayman Islands. While working in Little Cayman, I primarily studied the reproduction and movement ecology of invasive lionfish. I have also been engaged in several other coral reef related research projects with topics including benthic monitoring, reef herbivory, and larval ecology. Now that I am beginning my PhD at FIU, I hope to continue using technology to explore the ways in which tropical fishes move and utilize marine habitats, and ultimately to inform coral reef fisheries management.
Lanie Esch (PhD student) (email)
I am originally from Michigan, and completed my undergraduate studies in Marine Science at Coastal Carolina University. During this time, I was able to grow my passion for tropical reefs by conducting research on species richness and diversity of fringing reefs in Jamaica. After graduating, I worked for the Cape Eleuthera Institute in the Bahamas as a research technician. My project looked at the experimental relocation of juvenile green sea turtles in order to investigate foraging site fidelity, and I also collected data on a project evaluating seagrass biomass around the island. My research interests now focus on the ecological trade-offs of tropical reef fish. As a PhD student in TFEL, I aim to investigate how the structural complexity of coral reefs influences the interaction between predator and prey reef fish.
David Kochan (PhD student) (email)
I am from Virginia, and obtained my Bachelor’s in Biology in 2015 from Virginia Commonwealth University. My research experience includes chemical ecology of macroalgae and hard coral on fringing reefs in Fiji, trout stream connectivity and restoration in West Virginia, living shoreline, salt marsh ecology and ecosystem services in coastal North Carolina, and recreational angler surveys in rivers in Virginia. I am interested in the effects of coral reef degradation and resulting non-consumptive effects on herbivory, and the role of habitat connectivity on reef fish settlement and community structure. I also hope to introduce aspects of ecosystem services valuation into my research, utilizing my first undergraduate degree in Economics from the College of William and Mary.
Matthew Marrero (PhD student) (email)
I am originally from Miami, where I grew my love for the ocean. I completed my undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University. During my time there, I worked in several labs and on multiple projects. At the Aquatic Ecology Lab, I worked on a project looking at the size of zooplankton across seasons. At the Bennett Lab, I worked as a lab assistant on many projects, but my main focus was a meta-analysis focusing on herbivory and plants. Finally, I worked at the Hamilton Lab, where I mainly focused on mathematically modeling fishermen and market behavior on a floodplain model. As a PhD student in TFEL, I intend to investigate coupled human-natural systems of marine environments.
Paula Pabon (PhD student) (email)
I am a Fulbright Scholar from Colombia. I am a biologist from the National University of Colombia where I did a Masters in Marine Biology. I have been working in the Caribbean since I was a volunteer at the "Corales del Rosario" National Park and the Tayrona National Park. My undergraduate thesis addressed the trophic ecology of the invasive lionfish and with this research project I won a scholarship to be a “Young Researcher” of the Colciencias' National Marine Fauna group. I also won a scholarship to do a Masters where I worked with the population genetics of two Caribbean grunt species. After graduating my daughter was born, and since then I have been taking care of her and worked in the Marine and Coastal Research Institute - Invemar, in the program "Biodiversity of Marine Ecosystems”. As part of the TFEL, I am interested in working with the influence of seascape on predator-prey relationships of reef fishes.
Sara Schoen (PhD student) (email)
Originally from Virginia, I received my bachelor’s and masters from James Madison University. During this time, I conducted research on the Limnonectes kuhlii complex, a cryptic species of Southeast Asian stream frogs. My goal was to determine a statistical method for refining the morphometric characters to distinguish and delineate between candidate species. This led to the creation of a novel character measurement to remove the male-biased sexual dimorphism and subsequently increase sample size by allowing the inclusion of female specimens. At FIU, I am co-advised by Dr. Alastair Harborne and Dr. Demian Chapman to investigate and analyze the Global FinPrint data. I’m excited to explore a large data set and continue to utilize statistics to answer biological questions and aid in the conservation of species.
Harborne PhD / Masters committee memberships (FIU)
Aarin Allen (email)
Major supervisor: Dr Jeremy Kiska
Major supervisor: Dr Jose Eirin-Lopez
Dr Mark Barton (defended summer 2018)
Courtney Knauer (email)
Major supervisor: Dr Kevin Boswell
Major supervisor: Prof. Mike Heithaus
Casey Butler (email)
Major supervisor: Prof. Mark Butler
Major supervisor: Dr Yannis Papastamatiou
Sara Casareto (email)
Nicolas Rivas (email)
Major supervisor: Prof. Mike Heithaus
Major supervisor: Dr Rolando Santos
Dr Alain Duran (defended spring 2018)
Brendan Talwar (email)
Major supervisor: Dr Deron Burkepile
Major supervisor: Prof. Mike Heithaus
Nicholas Evans (email)
William Sample (email)
Major supervisor: Prof. Mark Butler
Major supervisor: Prof. Mike Heithaus
Frances Farabaugh (email)
Major supervisor: Prof. Mike Heithaus
Major supervisor: Dr Yannis Papastamatiou
Joshua Farmer (email)
Major supervisor: Dr Mauricio Rodriguez-Lanetty
Major supervisor: Dr Kevin Boswell
Will Wied (email)
Peter Flood (email)
Major supervisor: Dr Justin Campbell
Major supervisor: Prof. Joel Trexler
Dr Carissa Gervasi (defended spring 2022)
Natalie Whitaker (email)
Major supervisor: Dr Jennifer Rehage
Major supervisor: Dr Heather Bracken-Grissom
Co-supervised PhD students (non-FIU)
Anna Bakker (email)
Lead supervisor: Prof. Sam Purkis, University of Miami
Marie Seraphim (defended summer 2020) (email)
Lead supervisor: Dr Kath Sloman, University of the West of Scotland
Thesis: "Factors affecting the establishment of fish assemblages on restored coral reefs"
Dr Rob Yarlett (defended fall 2018) (email)
Lead supervisor: Prof. Chris Perry, University of Exeter