Kimberly B. Ritchie
941-388-4441, ext. 353; ritchie@mote.orgPROFESSIONAL PREPARATION
University of South Carolina at Aiken BS, Biology, 1994
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill PhD, Biology, 2000
Scripps Institution of Oceanography Postdoctoral Sept-Jan 2001
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Postdoctoral June-Sept 2000.
APPOINTMENTS
Jan. 2004-Present Staff Scientist, Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, FL. Program Manager, Marine Microbiology Program. Coral Reef Ecology and Disease.
Jan. 2001-Dec. 2004 Head Scientist, Marine Microbiology Division, MicroGenomics, Inc., Carlsbad, CA. Cloning and expression of total microbial DNA from the environment for drug discovery.
Sept. 2001-Jan. 2001 Postdoctoral Fellow, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, CA. Bacterial community dynamics of healthy corals and shifts during stress.
June 2000-Sept. 2001 Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama. Host-range studies on twelve species of Echinoderms using tetrodotoxin-producing pathogen. Phylogenetic analysis of pathogen.
August 1994-May 2000 Graduate Research Fellow, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. DNA Replication at the ends of chromosomes using classic genetics/epistasis analysis
Sept. 1993-May 1994 Technician, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, SC. Trophic diversity of Middle American Cichlid fish via DNA sequence/phylogenetic analysis.
August 1991-May 1994 Undergraduate Research Associate, University of South Carolina, Aiken. 1) Genetic ID of PCB degrading bacteria. 2) Metabolic diversity of coral microbes.
FIVE RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS
Sharp, KH, KB Ritchie, P Schupp, R Ritson-Williams, and VJ Paul (2010) Bacterial Acquisition by Gametes and Juveniles from Several Broadcast Spawning Coral Species. PLoS ONE 5(5): e10898. Doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010898.
Mao-Jones J, KB Ritchie, LE Jones, SP Ellner (2010) How microbial community composition regulates coral disease development. PLoS Biol 2010 8(3):e1000345 Manuscript received Faculty of 1000 rating.
Ritchie, KB (2006) Regulation of marine microbes by coral mucus and mucus-associated bacteria. Feature Article: Marine Ecology Progress Series 322: 1-14
Patterson, KL, JW Porter, KB Ritchie, GW Smith, SW Polson (2002). Etiology of white pox, a lethal disease of the Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata. Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences USA 99(13): 8725-8730
Ritchie, KB, I Nagelkerken, S James, GW Smith. 2000. Identification of a Tetrodotoxin-Producing Pathogen of the Heart Urchin Meoma ventricosa. Nature 404: 354
FIVE ADDITIONAL PUBLICATIONS
McDaniel, LE, Young E, Delaney J, Ruhnau F., Ritchie KB, Paul JH (2010) High Frequency of Horizontal Gene Transfer in the Oceans. Science 330, 50
Teplitski, M and KB Ritchie (2009) How feasible is the biological control of coral disease? Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 24(7): 378-385.
Krediet, CJ, KB Ritchie, M Cohen, E Lipp, K Sutherland, and M Teplitski (2009) Utilization of mucus from the coral Acropora palmata by environmental and pathogenic isolates of Serratia marcescens. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 75(12): 3851-3858.
Geiser, DM, JW Taylor, KB Ritchie, GW Smith. 1998. Cause of sea fan death in the West Indies. Nature 394: 137-138
Smith, GW, LD Ives, IA Nagelkerken, KB Ritchie. (1996) Caribbean Sea-Fan Mortalities. Nature 383, 487
SYNERGISTIC ACTIVITIES
• Editorial Board, Coral Reefs
• Courtesy Faculty: University of Florida, University of South Florida
• Chair, Session 8: Coral-Microbial Interactions, 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, July 2008
• Editor: Proceedings of the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, 2009-2010
• Graduate Committee: Scripps Institution of Oceanography/UCSD, University of Florida, University of South Florida
• Florida Aquarium Scientific Advisory Committee
• Technical Advisory Committee, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary/EPA
• Advisory Board, NOAA Undersea Research Center/Advisory Council for Undersea Research and Education (SEACURE)
• NOAA NM Fisheries Service Acropora Recovery Plan Team Member
• Patent: Methods for harvesting microbial samples from aquatic organisms, Ritchie, US Provisional Patent. Application 60/445,060. Filed Feb 4, 2003.
COLLABORATORS
John Paul (USF), Mya Breitbart (USF), Jim Hoch (Scripps Research Institute, CA), Kiho Kim, (American U), Todd LaJeunesse (FIU), Mikhail Matz (U Texas, Austin), Valerie Paul (Smithsonian), John Pringle (Stanford), Koty Sharp (Ocean Genome Legacy), Max Teplitski (U Florida), Ernesto Weil (U Puerto Rico)
ADVISORS
Nancy Knowlton, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA (Postdoctoral Advisor), Harilaos Lessios, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama (Postdoctoral Advisor), Thomas Petes, Duke (Graduate Advisor), Garriet Smith, University of South Carolina, Aiken (Undergraduate), Jim Hoch, Scripps Research Institute
About Us
Mote Marine Laboratory has been a leader in marine research since it was founded in 1955. Today, we incorporate public outreach as a key part of our mission. Mote is an independent nonprofit organization and has seven centers for marine research, the public Mote Aquarium and an Education Division specializing in public programs for all ages.
