 Dr. Erinn Muller
Title: Postdoctoral Fellow; Coral Reef Ecosystem Research Program
Phone: 941-388-4441
Email:
Dr. Muller joined Mote Marine Laboratory in 2012 as a Mote Postdoctoral Fellow within the Coral Reef Ecosystem Research Program. Her research focuses on understanding how coral diseases change through space and time and aims to identify the parameters that influence disease outbreaks.
Coral-disease outbreaks are becoming more common as oceanic temperatures increase because warm water creates immune compromised coral hosts and may cause pathogens to proliferate. Dr. Muller’s research has shown that stressed corals are more susceptible to disease infection, and that slowing the rate of change in water temperature will reduce the loss of threatened species such as the elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata.
Dr. Muller uses spatial statistics, frequentist statistics and Bayesian modeling to quantify how diseases are distributed through space and time to identify reefs with high and low disease risk. Spatial patterns provide information on the contagious nature of diseases as well as possible modes of disease transmission. Quantifying the temporal dynamics of coral diseases also provides insight into parameters that may affect disease prevalence on corals, such as water temperature. To further understand the mechanisms that influence a coral’s susceptibility to disease, Dr. Muller is beginning to couple laboratory techniques with her spatial and temporal field studies. She will be testing several components of the coral holobiont including the coral host’s immunological competence, the microbial communities within the coral, and antibiotic activity of the coral mucus to determine which parameter may influence a colonies susceptibility to disease infection. Dr. Muller hopes to understand the mechanisms that drive coral-disease dynamics to reduce further loss of corals and ultimately preserve coral reefs for the future.
Education Ph.D. Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology
M.S. Marine Biology, Florida Institute of Technology
B.S. Marine Biology, Florida Institute of Technology Awards
- Mote Postdoctoral Fellowship (2012-2014)
- Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship, NOAA (2008-2012)
- Recipient of AAAS/Science Program for Excellence (2006)
- LOCAP 10th ICRS Travel Fellowship (2004)
- Outstanding Graduate Student in Marine Biology (2001, 2003)
- Vaughn Jordan Botanical Fellowship (2002-2003)
- Softball Div. II scholarship (1999-2003)
Publications Peer Reviewed Papers
Jordan-Garza AG, Muller EM, Burman SG, van Woesik R. 2010. Susceptibility of coral-disease models. PNAS (2011) 108:E110-E11
Muller EM, van Woesik R. 2010. Black-band disease dynamics: prevalence, incidence, and acclimatization of light. JEMBE 397:52-57
Eakin M, Morgan JA,…Muller EM et al. 2010. Caribbean Corals in Crisis: Record thermal stress, bleaching, and mortality in 2005. PLoS One 5(11): e13969. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013969
Reed K, Muller EM, van Woesik R. 2010. Coral immunology and resistance to disease. Dis Aquat Org 90:85-92
Rogers CS, Muller EM, Spitzack T, Miller J. 2009. Extensive coral mortality in the US Virgin Islands in 2005/2006: A review of the evidence for synergy among thermal stress, coral bleaching and disease. Car J of Sci. 45:204-214
Muller EM, van Woesik R. 2009. Shading reduces coral-disease progression. Coral Reefs. 28:757-760
Miller J, Muller EM, Rogers CS, et al. 2009. Coral disease following massive bleaching in 2005 causes 60% decline in coral cover on reefs in the US Virgin Islands (USVI). Coral Reefs 28:925-937
Muller EM, Rogers CS, Spitzack A, van Woesik R. 2008. Bleaching increases the likelihood of disease on Acropora palmata (Lamarck) at Hawksnest Bay, St. John, US Virgin Islands; Coral Reefs 27:191-195
Miller J, Waara R, Muller EM, Rogers C. 2006. Coral bleaching and disease combine to cause extensive mortality on reefs in US Virgin Islands. Coral Reefs 25:418
Book Chapters
Rogers CS, Miller J, Muller EM, et al. 2008. Ecology of Coral Reefs in the US Virgin Islands. Chapter 8. In: Riegl B, Dodge RE (eds). Coral Reefs of the USA. Springer. pgs 303-374.
Technical Reports
Woody K, Atkinson A, Clark R, Jeffrey C, Lundgren I, Miller J, Monaco M, Muller E, et al. 2008. Coral bleaching in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2005 and 2006. In: Status of Caribbean coral reefs after bleaching and hurricanes in 2005. C.R. Wilkinson and D. Souter ed. Global Coral Reef and Monitoring Network, and Reef and Rainforest Research Center, Townsville, Australia. 152 p.
Rothenberger P., J. Blondeau, C. Cox, S. Curtis, B. Fisher, V. Garrison, Z. Hillis-Starr, C.F.G. Jeffrey, E. Kadison, I. Lundgren, J. Miller, E. Muller, R. Nemeth, S. Paterson, C. Rogers, T. Smith, A. Spitzack, M. Taylor, W. Toller, J. Waddell, D. Wusinich-Mendez. 2008. The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the U.S. Virgin Islands. In: Status of coral reefs of the world: 2008. C.R. Wilkinson. ed. Global Coral Reef Network and Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville, Australia.
Department: Directorate of Marine Biology & Conservation
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