People:
Alexis Sturm


Alexis Sturm

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute  ()
&  Florida Atlantic University

5600 N US-1 Laboratory 2, Fort Pierce, FL 34946
 7722422396




Research interests

Alexis is a Ph.D. student at FAU-HBOI who joined the graduate program in August 2017. Her dissertation research focuses on the characterization of mesophotic and shallow coral reef communities off the coast of Cuba, Mexico, and the Florida Keys. Her research, which is funded through the Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration Research and Technology, combines several molecular techniques to improve the understanding of the ecology, genetic connectivity, and associated symbiont assemblages of populations of the coral Montastraea cavernosa. Alexis is a graduate of the University of Miami with dual degrees in Marine Science and Biology. Prior to her graduate work at HBOI, she worked in education and outreach and policy development for the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and Office of Protected Resources. As an undergraduate NOAA Hollings Scholar, she led coral health impact and human use surveys in Tumon Bay, Guam. She also worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Cnidarian Immunity Lab, focusing on wound healing processes in the coral, Pocillopora damicornis.

Publications

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

Depth Influences Symbiodiniaceae Associations Among Montastraea cavernosa Corals on the Belize Barrier Reef | article
Eckert RJ, Reaume AM, Sturm AB, Studivan MS, Voss JD (2020)
Front Microbiol

Population genetic structure of the great star coral, Montastraea cavernosa, across the Cuban archipelago with comparisons between microsatellite a... | article
Sturm AB, Eckert RJ, Méndez JG, González-Díaz P, Voss JD (2020)
Sci Rep 10:1-15

Depth-dependent genetic structuring of a depth-generalist coral and its Symbiodiniaceae algal communities at Campeche Bank, Mexico | article
Sturm AB, Eckert RJ, Carreiro AM, Simoes N, Voss JD (2022)
Front Mar Sci 9:835789

Population genetic structure of the broadcast spawning coral, Montastraea cavernosa, demonstrates refugia potential of upper mesophotic populations... | article
Sturm AB, Eckert RJ, Carreiro AM, Voss JD (2022)
Coral Reefs 41:587-598

Does depth divide? Variable genetic connectivity patterns among shallow and mesophotic Montastraea cavernosa coral populations across the Gulf of M... | article
Sturm AB, Eckert RJ, Carreiro AM, Klein AM, Studivan MS, Dodge Farelli D, Simões N, González‐Díaz P, González Méndez J, Voss JD (2023)
Ecol Evol 13:e10622

Mesophotic Coral Ecosystems of Cuba | chapter
Reed JK, González-Díaz P, Voss JD, Busutil L, Diaz C, Pomponi SA, Farrington S, Cobián-Rojas D, David A, Martínez-Daranas B, Hanisak MD, González Mendez J, Sturm AB, González Sánchez PM, García Hernández MR, Viamontes Fernández J, Jiang M, Laverick JH, Zlatarski VN (2023)
in: Coral Reefs of the World (Springer) by Zlatarski VN, Reed JK, Pomponi SA, Brooke S, Farrington S,
Research keywords
Research platform experience
  SCUBA (open-circuit or unspecified)
  Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)
  Snorkeling
  Land-based
Research summary (from publications)