Mary Alice Coffroth | |
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Born | 1954 (age 69–70)
[1] Somerset, PA |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Marine Biology |
Institutions | State University of New York at Buffalo |
Thesis | Mucous sheet production by poritid corals (1988) |
Mary Alice Coffroth is an American marine biologist who is a professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is known for her use of molecular tools to examine coral larval ecology, recruitment and cnidarian- dinoflagellate symbiosis.
Coffroth has a B.S. from the College of William and Mary (1976), and an M.S. (1981) and a Ph.D. (1988) from the University of Miami. [1] In 1990 she joined the State University of New York at Buffalo where, as of 2023, she is a professor in the geology department. [2]
Her PhD research focused on the production of coral mucus by poritid corals and its role in the reef ecosystem. [3] She was an early adopter of molecular approaches in marine ecology initially examining gorgonian population genetics using DNA fingerprinting, [4] followed by research into the molecular taxonomy of cnidarian photosymbionts. [5] Coffroth has used the underwater research station Aquarius Reef Base to study genetic differences in corals. [6] Her work on coral spawning in the Caribbean has shown how corals can initially take up a range of symbiont species which are then winnowed to a predictable subset of the available species. [7] She has also examined how coral symbionts are responding to climate change and increasing sea water temperatures. [8] [9] She established a culture collection with Caribbean corals and octocorals, the BURR Culture Collection, which is used to examine the relationship between corals and their symbiotic algae. [10]
Mary Alice Coffroth | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | 1954 (age 69–70)
[1] Somerset, PA |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Marine Biology |
Institutions | State University of New York at Buffalo |
Thesis | Mucous sheet production by poritid corals (1988) |
Mary Alice Coffroth is an American marine biologist who is a professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is known for her use of molecular tools to examine coral larval ecology, recruitment and cnidarian- dinoflagellate symbiosis.
Coffroth has a B.S. from the College of William and Mary (1976), and an M.S. (1981) and a Ph.D. (1988) from the University of Miami. [1] In 1990 she joined the State University of New York at Buffalo where, as of 2023, she is a professor in the geology department. [2]
Her PhD research focused on the production of coral mucus by poritid corals and its role in the reef ecosystem. [3] She was an early adopter of molecular approaches in marine ecology initially examining gorgonian population genetics using DNA fingerprinting, [4] followed by research into the molecular taxonomy of cnidarian photosymbionts. [5] Coffroth has used the underwater research station Aquarius Reef Base to study genetic differences in corals. [6] Her work on coral spawning in the Caribbean has shown how corals can initially take up a range of symbiont species which are then winnowed to a predictable subset of the available species. [7] She has also examined how coral symbionts are responding to climate change and increasing sea water temperatures. [8] [9] She established a culture collection with Caribbean corals and octocorals, the BURR Culture Collection, which is used to examine the relationship between corals and their symbiotic algae. [10]