Tyler Smith
Center for Marine and Environmental StudiesUniversity of the Virgin Islands (Virgin Islands (U.S.))
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Dr. Tyler Smith is a Research Assistant Professor in the Center for Marine and Environmental Studies. His goals are to provide research that will inform traditional ecological fields of study and conservation, while transferring knowledge to the next generation of marine scientists and managers through dialogue and hands-on experience. SmithÕ¢ŠÎ†¢s approach towards research is to lead and participate in highly collaborative interdisciplinary research teams to tackle central questions in marine ecology. He feels that research collaboration is essential to maximizing the information potential of research endeavors. Smith integrates cutting-edge techniques and technologies, such as closed circuit rebreather diving and genetic analyses, with observational and manipulative experiments. Smith divides his time between regional and international research programs and teaching within the Masters of Marine and Environmental Science Program at UVI (course: Physical and Ecological Processes Along a Land-Sea Gradient). Smith is also team leader of the Evolutionary & Ecological Patterns & Processes research thrust of the NSF funded Virgin Islands-Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.SmithÕ¢ŠÎ†¢s research focuses on numerous aspects of coral reef ecology, including landscape/seascape processes, organism interactions, and climate change. Specific research interests include algal-herbivore interactions, the ecology and conservation value of deep mesophotic reefs, trophic interactions at fish spawning aggregations, and processes that control the long-term dynamics of coral reef systems, such as coral bleaching, disease, and other factors that increase susceptibility to mortality. Smith is currently the coordinator of the US Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program. This program conducts annual surveys at over 33 monitoring sites in the US Virgin Islands, with intensive assessment of fishes, benthic organisms, and coral health, including threatened Caribbean Acroporid corals. The TCRMP also tracks trends in factors affecting coral reefs, such as oceanographic conditions (e.g., temperature and currents) and anthropogenic stressors (e.g., terrestrial run-off and fishing), using an array of high-technology devices owned and operated by CMES (conductivity/temperature/depth profilers, Acoustic Wave and Current meters, moored fluorometers). Information provided by the TCRMP is vital to wise management of valuable coastal ecosystems. Other funded projects include research into the processes influencing patterns of deep mesophotic reef development, the shifting diversity of Symbiodinium with coral bleaching, and the ecological factors affecting the incidence of Ciguatera Fish Poisoning. Smith has conducted research in the US Virgin Islands, PanamÕóë, GalÕóëpagos, and Florida.
Please note that only publications relevant to mesophotic reefs are indexed.
