Areas of Expertise
Cellular mechanisms of stress responses in marine organisms, ecological physiology
Teaching Responsibilities include: Marine Biology, Current Applications in Biology, Marine Botany, Oceanography, General Biology I
Education
B.S. (Marine Biology) Florida Atlantic University (1996)
M.S. (Biology) Florida Atlantic University (1998)
Ph.D. (Marine Science) University of California, Santa Barbara (2005)
Postdoctoral Fellow Smithsonian Marine Station (2005-2007)
Biography
My research program utilizes biochemical, cellular and ecological approaches to better understand the stress responses of marine and freshwater photosynthetic organisms. Studying the stress pathways that regulate biotic interactions is important for discerning not only how aquatic organisms adapt to their environment, but how aquatic organisms respond to each other. I am particularly interested in evaluating the impacts of environmental stressors on cellular processes with the ultimate goal of understanding how this influences ecosystem functionality. Building an integrated understanding of how events at the cellular level can impact a species' ecology is important for our ability to predict the impacts of both regional and global scale climate change. For more information on current research please click on the website link (to the right under contact info).
Awards
Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award 2010-2011
Affiliations
Research Associate, Smithsonian Marine Station
American Academy of Underwater Sciences (AAUS Certified - Scientific Diving)
Grants and Contracts Awarded
Mote Marine Protect Our Reefs Grant 2012-2013: Combined effects of benthic macroalgae and elevated sea surface temperature on Porites astreoides larvae health and survivorship.
Mote Marine Protect Our Reefs Grant 2013-2014: Interactions among ocean acidification, elevated temperature and macroalgal presence on coral larvae stress and post-settlement survivorship
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 2013-2014: The Impact of Elevated Temperature and Mosquito Control Pesticides on Coral Larvae Physiology and Settlement
Publications & Presentations
Trevathan-Tackett, S., Lauer, N., Loucks, K., Rossi, A., Ross, C. 2013. Assessing the relationship between seagrass health and habitat quality with wasting disease prevalence in the Florida Keys. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology (in review).
Loucks, K., Waddell, D.S., and Ross, C. 2013. Lipopolysaccharides elicit an oxidative burst as a component of the innate immune system in the seagrass Thalassia testudinum. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry (in press).
Olsen, K., Ritson-Williams, R., Ochrietor, J.D., Paul, V.J. and Ross, C. 2013 Detecting hyperthermal stress in larvae of the hermatypic coral Porites astreoides: The suitability of using biomarkers of oxidative stress versus heat shock protein transcriptional expression. Marine Biology (in press)
Ross, C., Ritson-Williams, R., Olsen, K. and Paul, VJ. 2013. Short-term and latent post-settlement effects associated with elevated temperature and oxidative stress on larvae from the coral Porites astreoides. Coral Reefs. 32(1): 71-79.
Koch, M., Bowes, G.E., Ross, C. and Zhang, X. 2013. Climate Change and ocean acidification effects on seagrasses and macroalgae. Global Change Biology. 19 (1): 103-132.
Morrow, K.M., Ritson-Williams, R., Ross, C., Mark Liles, M., and Paul, V.J. 2012. Macroalgal allelochemicals induce bacterial assemblage shifts and sublethal tissue stress in Caribbean corals.PLoS ONE 7(9): e44859. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0044859
Welling, M., Ross, C. and G. Pohnert. 2011. A Desulfatation-Oxidation Cascade Activates Coumarin-Based Cross-Linkers in the Wound Reaction of the Giant Unicellular Alga Dasycladus vermicularis. Angewandte Chemie. 50 (33): 7691-7694.
Trevathan, S.M., Kahn, A. and C. Ross. 2011. Effects of short-term hypersalinity exposure on the susceptibility to wasting disease in the subtropical seagrass Thalassia testudinum. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry. 49: 1051-1058.
Lauer, N.T., Yeager, M., Kahn, A., Dobberfuhl, D., and C. Ross. 2011. The effects of short term salinity exposure on the sublethal stress response of Vallisneria americana Michx. (Hydrocharitaceae). Aquatic Botany. 95 (3): 207-213.
Main, W., Ross, C., and Bielmyer, G.K. 2010. Copper Accumulation and Oxidative Stress in the Sea Anemone, Aiptasia pallida, After Waterborne Copper Exposure Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology-Part C: Toxicology & Pharmacology 151: 216-221.
Ross, C., Ritson-Williams, R., Bullington, B., Pierce, R., Henry, M., and V.J. Paul. 2010. Impacts of Karenia brevis on coral larvae oxidative stress and settlement. Harmful Algae 9: 173-179.
Welling, M., Pohnert, G., Kupper, F.C., and C. Ross. 2009. Rapid biopolymerization during wound plug formation in green Algae. Journal of Adhesion 85: 825-838.
Meickle, Theresa, Matthew, Susan, Ross, Cliff, Luesch, Hendrik and Paul, Valerie J. 2009. Bioassay-Guided Isolation and Identification of Desacetlymicrocolin B from Lyngbya cf. polychroa, Planta Medica, 75:1427-1430
Sharp, K., Arthur, K.E., Gu, L., Ross, C., Harrison, G., Gunasekera, S., Meickle, T., Matthew, S., Luesch, H., Thacker, R., Sherman, D., Paul, V.J. 2009. Phylogenetic and chemical diversity of three chemotypes of bloom-forming Lyngbya (Cyanobacteria: Oscillatoriales) from reefs of Southeast Florida. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 75 (9): 2879-2888.
Gunasekera, S.P., Ross, C., Paul, V.J., Matthew, S. and Luesch, H. 2008. Dragonamides C and D, Linear lipopeptides from the marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya polychroa. Journal of Natural Products 71, 887-890.
Mathew, S., Ross, C., Paul, V.J., and Luesch, H. 2008. Pompanopeptins A and B, new cyclic peptides from the marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya confervoides. Tetrahedron 64, 4081-4089.
Ross, C., Puglisi, M.P., and Paul, V.J., 2008. Anti-fungal defense systems of Seagrass communities. Aquatic Botany 88, 134-131.
Paul, V.J., Arthur, K.E., Ritson-Williams, R., Ross, C., and Sharp, K. 2007. Chemical Defenses: From Compounds to Communities. Biological Bulletin 213: 226-251.
Ross, C. and Van Alstyne, K.L., 2007. Intraspecific variation in stress-induced hydrogen peroxide scavenging by the ulvoid macroalga Ulva lactuca. Journal of Phycology 43 (3). 466-474.
Matthew, S., Ross, C., Rocca, J.R., Paul, V.J., and Luesch, H. 2007. Lyngbyastatin 4, a Dolastatin 13 analog with elastase and chymotrypsin inhibitory activity from the marine cyanobacterium Lyngbya confervoides. Journal of Natural Products 70 (1): 124-127.
Ross, C., Vasquez-Santiago, L., and Paul, V.J., 2006. Toxin secretion in response to oxidative stress and programmed cell death in the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. Aquatic Toxicology 78 (1): 66-73.
Ross, C., Küpper, F. C., and R. S. Jacobs., 2006. Involvement of reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species in the wound response in Dasycladus vermicularis (Chlorophyta). Chemistry & Biology 13 (3): 353-364.
Ross, C., Küpper, F. C., Vreeland, V., Waite, J.H., and R. S. Jacobs. 2005. Evidence of a Latent Oxidative Burst in Relation to Wound Repair in the GiantUnicellular Chlorophyte Dasycladus vermicularis. Journal of Phycology 41 (3): 46-54.
Ross, C., Vreeland, V., Waite, J.H., and Robert S. Jacobs. 2005. Rapid Assembly of a Wound Plug; Stage One of a Two Stage Wound Repair Mechanism in the Giant Unicellular Chlorophyte Dasycladus vermicularis. Journal of Phycology 41 (1): 531-541.
