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, GalÕóëpagos, and Florida.

  Please note that only publications relevant to mesophotic reefs are indexed.

	Landscape video mosaic from a mesophotic coral reef | article Gleason ACR, Gracias N, Lirman D, Gintert BE, Smith TB, Dick MC, Reid RP (2010) Coral Reefs 29:253
	Benthic structure and cryptic mortality in a Caribbean mesophotic coral reef bank system, the Hind Bank Marine Conservation District, US Virgin Isl... | article Smith TB, Blondeau J, Nemeth RS, Pittman SJ, Calnan JM, Kadison E, Gass J (2010) Coral Reefs 29:289-308
	Mesophotic bioerosion: Variability and structural impact on US Virgin Island deep reefs | article Weinstein DK, Smith TB, Klaus JS (2014) Geomorphology 222:14-24
	Assessing coral reef health across onshore to offshore stress gradients in the US Virgin Islands | article Smith TB, Nemeth RS, Blondeau J, Calnan JM, Kadison E, Herzlieb S (2008) Mar Pollut Bull 56:1983-1991
	Coral disease prevalence and host susceptibility on mid-depth and deep reefs in the United States Virgin Islands | article Calnan JM, Smith TB, Nemeth RS, Kadison E, Blondeau J (2008) Rev Biol Trop 56:223-234
	Fertile fathoms: Deep reproductive refugia for threatened shallow corals | article Holstein DM, Smith TB, Gyory J, Paris CB (2015) Sci Rep 5:12407
	Spectral Diversity and Regulation of Coral Fluorescence in a Mesophotic Reef Habitat in the Red Sea | article Eyal G, Wiedenmann J, Grinblat M, D'Angelo C, Kramarsky-Winter E, Treibitz T, Ben-Zvi O, Shaked Y, Smith TB, Harii S, Denis V, Noyes T, Tamir R, Loya Y (2015) PLoS ONE 10:e0128697
	Caribbean mesophotic coral ecosystems are unlikely climate change refugia | article Smith TB, Gyory J, Brandt ME, Miller WJ, Jossart J, Nemeth RS (2016) Global Change Biol 22:2756–2765
	Habitat heterogeneity reflected in mesophotic reef sediments | article Weinstein DK, Klaus JS, Smith TB (2015) Sediment Geol 329:177-187
	Modeling vertical coral connectivity and mesophotic refugia | article Holstein DM, Paris CB, Vaz AC, Smith TB (2016) Coral Reefs 35:23-37
	Geographic differences in vertical connectivity in the Caribbean coral Montastraea cavernosa despite high levels of horizontal connectivity at shal... | article Serrano X, Baums IB, O'Reilly K, Smith TB, Jones TL, Shearer TL, Nunes FLD, Baker AC (2014) Mol Ecol 23:4226-4240
	A depth refugium from catastrophic coral bleaching prevents regional extinction | article Smith TB, Glynn PW, Maté JL, Toth LT, Gyory J (2014) Ecology 95:1663-1673
	Depth-independent reproduction in the reef coral Porites astreoides from shallow to mesophotic zones | article Holstein DM, Smith TB, Paris CB (2016) PLoS ONE 11:e0146068
	Long distance dispersal and vertical gene flow in the Caribbean brooding coral Porites astreoides | article Serrano XM, Baums IB, Smith TB, Jones RJ, Shearer TL, Baker AC (2016) Sci Rep 6:21619
	Seasonal variability in calorimetric energy content of two Caribbean mesophotic corals | article Brandtneris VW, Brandt ME, Glynn PW, Gyory J, Smith TB (2016) PLoS ONE 11:e0151953
	Potential structuring forces on a shelf edge upper Mesophotic Coral Ecosystem in the US Virgin Islands | article Smith TB, Brandtneris VW, Canals M, Brandt ME, Martens J, Brewer RS, Kadison E, Kammann M, Keller J, Holstein DM (2016) Front Mar Sci 3:115
	Coral growth, bioerosion, and secondary accretion of living orbicellid corals from mesophotic reefs in the US Virgin Islands | article Weinstein DK, Sharifi A, Klaus JS, Smith TB, Giri SJ, Helmle KP (2016) Mar Ecol Prog Ser 559:45-63
	Fungi associated with mesophotic macroalgae from the ‘Au‘au Channel, west Maui are differentiated by host and overlap terrestrial communities | article Wainwright BJ, Zahn GL, Spalding HL, Sherwood AR, Smith CM, Amend AS (2017) PeerJ 5:e3532
	Abundance of commercially important reef fish indicates different levels of over-exploitation across shelves of the U.S. Virgin Islands | article Kadison E, Brandt M, Nemeth R, Martens J, Blondeau J, Smith T (2017) PLoS ONE 12:e0180063
	Growth rates of Porites astreoides and Orbicella franksi in mesophotic habitats surrounding St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands | article Groves SH, Holstein DM, Enochs IC, Kolodzeij G, Manzello DP, Brandt ME, Smith TB (2018) Coral Reefs 37: 345–354
	The United States Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Year 11 Annual Report | report Smith TB, Kadison E, Henderson L, Brandt ME, Gyory J, Kammann M, Wright V, Nemeth RS (2011) The United States Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program
	The United States Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Year 14 Annual Report | report Smith TB, Kadison E, Ennis RS, Gyory J, Brandt ME, Wright V, Nemeth RS, Henderson L (2014)
	The United States Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Year 15 Annual Report | report Smith TB, Ennis RS, Kadison E, Weinstein DW, Jossart J, Gyory J, Henderson L (2015)
	Connectivity of Pulley Ridge With Remote Locations as Inferred From Satellite‐Tracked Drifter Trajectories | article Olascoaga MJ, Miron P, Paris C, Pérez‐Brunius P, Pérez‐Portela R, Smith RH, Vaz A (2018) JGR Oceans 123:5742-5750
	The United States Virgin Islands | chapter Smith TB, Brandt ME, Brandtneris VW, Ennis RS, Groves SH, Habtes S, Holstein DM, Kadison E, Nemeth RS (2019) in: Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (Springer) by Loya Y, Puglise KA, Bridge TCL
	Pulley Ridge, Gulf of Mexico, USA | chapter Reed JK, Farrington S, David A, Harter S, Pomponi SA, Diaz MC, Voss JD, Spring KD, Hine AC, Kourafalou VH, Smith RH, Vaz AC, Paris CB, Hanisak MD (2019) in: Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems, Coral Reefs of the World (Springer) by Loya Y, Puglise KA, Bridge TCL
	Beyond the “Deep Reef Refuge” Hypothesis: A Conceptual Framework to Characterize Persistence at Depth | chapter Bongaerts P, Smith TB (2019) in: Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019) by Yossi L, Puglise KA, Bridge T
	Disturbance in Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems and Linkages to Conservation and Management | chapter Smith TB, Holstein DM, Ennis RS (2019) in: Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems () by Loya Y, Puglise KA, Bridge TCL
	Predicting the distribution of threatened orbicellid corals in shallow and mesophotic reef ecosystems | article Egan KE, Viehman TS, Holstein DM, Poti M, Groves SH, Smith TB (2021) Mar Ecol Prog Ser 667:61-81
	Environmental and biological drivers of white plague disease on shallow and mesophotic coral reefs | article Chaves‐Fonnegra A, Panassiti B, Smith TB, Brown E, Clemens E, Sevier M, Brandt ME (2021) Ecography 44:1071-1085
	Ecosystem Services of Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems and a Call for Better Accounting | chapter Holstein DM, Fletcher P, Groves SH, Smith TB (2019) in: Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems (Springer) by Loya Y, Puglise KA, Bridge TCL
	Differing lesion recovery rates of two Caribbean stony coral species across a shallow water to mesophotic depth gradient suggest different sensitiv... | article Townsend JE, Brandt ME, Mukherjee S, Medina M, Smith T (2023) Coral Reefs
	Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems - A lifeboat for coral reefs? | report Andradi-Brown D, Laverick J, Bejarano I, Bridge T, Colin PL, Eyal G, Jones R, Kahng S, Reed J, Smith T, Spalding HL, Wood E (2016)
	Function and stability of mesophotic coral reefs | article Slattery M, Lesser MP, Rocha LA, Spalding HL, Smith TB (2024) TREE 39:585-598