Marine Science Institute

University of Texas at Austin

750 Channel View Dr., Port Aransas, TX 78373

Phone (361) 749-6845, Fax (361) 749-6777

E-mail: rocha@mail.utexas.edu

CURRENT POSITION

Assistant Professor, Department of Marine Science, University of Texas at Austin, 2008 – present.

Research Assistant Professor, Marine Science Institute, University of Texas at Austin, 2008 – present.

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida, 1999 – 2003.

M.Sc., Zoology, with distinction, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Brazil, 1997 – 1999.

B.Sc., Biological Sciences, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Brazil, 1991 – 1996.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Assistant Researcher, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii, 2006 – 2008.

Postdoctoral Fellow, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama, 2003 – 2006.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Consultant, 2003 – 2005.

IUCN Species Survival Commission, Groupers and Wrasses Specialist, 2001 – present.

IUCN Species Survival Commission, Reef Fish Specialist, 2006 – present.

EDITORIAL SERVICE

Associate Editor (Marine Fishes), Zootaxa, 2006 – 2009.

Editorial Board, 17th Brazilian Meeting of Ichthyology, 2006 – 2007.

RESEARCH GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

2006 

        “Connectivity among reef fish populations at southeastern Brazilian islands: an ecological and population genetic approach” CNPq, Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology; with Co-PI Sergio Floeter (US$ 27,000 for one year)

        “Marine population connectivity at St. Paul’s Rocks, central Atlantic Ocean” CNPq, Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology; with Co-PI Carlos E. L. Ferreira (US$ 23,000 for one year)

2005

        “Phylogeography of Indo-Pacific Reef Fishes” NSF - Biological Oceanography; with P.I. Brian Bowen and 4 other Co-PIs (US$ 510,000 for three years)

        “The evolution and ecology of fish assemblages in a poorly known eastern Atlantic biodiversity hotspot” National Geographic Society; with Co-PI Sergio Floeter (US$ 20,960 for one year)

2004

        “Revisiting connectivity among coral reef fish populations: are abrupt discontinuities in ranges due to self-recruitment or ecological constraints?” National Geographic Society; sole P.I. (US$ 15,000 for one year)

        DIALOG VI (Dissertations Initiative for the Advancement of Limnology and Oceanography) symposium participant, sponsored by the American Society of Limnol. and Oceanogr. (ASLO)

2003

        Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Smithsonian Institution Marine Science Network (US$ 80,000 for two years)

        Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Smithsonian Institution (US$ 35,000 for one year; awarded but declined to receive Marine Science Network fellowship above)

2002

        PADI Project Aware research grant (US$ 2,500)

2000

        Academic Achievement Award, University of Florida

1999

        Doctorate Scholarship, Brazilian Ministry of Education (US$ 100,000 for four years of stipend and tuition)

        M.Sc. with Distinction, UFPB, Brazil

1997

        Graduate Student Scholarship, Brazilian Ministry of Education

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

Teaching Assistant

        Introduction to Oceanography, University of Texas, Spring 2009.

        Ichthyology, University of Florida, Spring 2003.

        Ichthyology, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Brazil, Spring 1999.

        Vertebrate Zoology, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Brazil, Fall 1997, 1998.

Guest Lectures

        Speciation Seminar, University of Hawaii, 2006. Topic: Speciation in reef fishes.

        Tropical Ecology, STRI/OTS, 2004. Topic: Coral reef fish ecology.

        Ichthyology, University of Florida, 2002. Topic: Reef fish diversity and evolution.

Symposium Organization

        Organized a symposium on “Conservation Genetics and Phylogeography of Fishes” during the 17th Brazilian Meeting of Ichthyology at Itajai, Brazil in January of 2007.

        Organized a mini-symposium, “Ecology, Biology and Biogeography of Brazilian Reef Fishes” during the 14th Brazilian Meeting of Ichthyology, Sao Leopoldo, Brazil, January 2001.

       

Institutional Activities

        Course and Curriculum Committee, UTMSI, 2008-2009.

        Organization Committee, DNA Barcoding Workshop, STRI, 2005.

        Commission on Academic Affairs, STRI, 2004.

Field Experience

        Participated in 36 scientific expeditions and three oceanographic cruises to oceanic islands and banks, including the remote islands of Fatu Hiva (Marquesas), Johnston Atoll, Kwajalein (Marshall Islands), Kure Atoll, Midway Atoll and Christmas (Kiribati) in the Pacific; St. Paul’s Rocks, Atol das Rocas (Brazil), Cubagua (Venezuela) and Sao Tome (west Africa) in the Atlantic, and Christmas Island, Cocos Keeling and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean to conduct reef fish sampling.

SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS (Out of 52)

        Rocha, L. A. 2007. Speciation and biogeography of Haemulon (Teleostei: Haemulidae). Smithsonian Institution Marine Science Workshop. Washington, DC. [Invited]

        Rocha, L. A. 2007. Speciation in coral reef fishes. 17th Brazilian Meeting of Ichthyology. Itajai, Brazil. [Invited]

        Rocha, L. A. 2006. The importance of sampling across environmental gradients in connectivity studies. 59th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute Meeting. Belize City, Belize. [Invited]

        Rocha, L. A., Rocha, C. R. and K. C. Lindeman. 2006. Speciation and biogeography of Haemulon (Teleostei: Haemulidae) inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial genes. 86th Joint Meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. New Orleans, LA.

        Rocha, L. A., D. R. Robertson, C. R. Rocha, J. L. Van Tassell, M. Craig and B. W. Bowen. 2005. Recent invasion of the tropical Atlantic by an Indo-Pacific coral reef fish. 7th Indo-Pacific Fish Conference, Taipei, Taiwan.

        Rocha, L. A. 2005. Phylogeography of Atlantic reef fishes. 16th Brazilian Meeting of Ichthyology, Joao Pessoa, Brazil. [Invited]

        Rocha, L. A. 2004. Ecological speciation in tropical reef fishes. ASLO DIALOG VI Workshop. Dauphin Island, AL. [Invited]

        Rocha, L. A., D. R. Robertson, C. R. Rocha, J. L. Van Tassell and B. W. Bowen. 2004. Episodic global warming drives interoceanic invasion and transoceanic expansion by a coral-reef fish. Evolution Conference. Fort Collins, CO.

INVITED SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS

2009    IUCN Parrotfishes Conservation Workshop, Indonesia

            IUCN Wrasses and Blennies Conservation Workshop, Philippines

2008    IUCN Wrasses Conservation Workshop, Brazil

            Department of Oceangraphy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brazil

            Department of Systematics and Ecology, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Brazil

2007    Marine Science Institute, University of Texas Austin

            Smithsonian Institution Marine Science Workshop, Washington DC

            IUCN Grouper Conservation Workshop, Hong Kong

            Brazilian Ichthyology Society Meeting, Itajai, Brazil

            Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Tennessee

2006    Connectivity Symposium, Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Meeting, Belize

            Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii

2005    Department of Genetics, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

            Brazilian Ichthyology Society Meeting, Joao Pessoa, Brazil

            Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama

2004    Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University

            Dept. of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California Santa Barbara

            ASLO DIALOG VI Workshop, Dauphin Island, Alabama

            Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Bermuda

            Eastern Atlantic fish systematics workshop, FAO-UN, Tenerife, Canary Islands

            Rosenstiel School of Marine Science, University of Miami

2003    Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico

            Department of Systematics and Ecology, Universidade Federal da Paraiba, Brazil

2002    Florida Museum of Natural History

2001    Brazilian Ichthyology Society Meeting, Unisinos, Brazil

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists

Brazilian Ichthyology Society

International Biogeography Society (Founding member)

Society for the Study of Evolution

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

Associate Editor for Zootaxa

Manuscript reviews for:

    Animal Behaviour (2)

    Animal Biology

    Aquatic Living Resources

    Biological Conservation

    Biota Neotropica

    BMC Evolutionary Biology (3)

    Brazilian Journal of Biology

    Bulletin of Marine Science (3)

    Caribbean Journal of Science (2)

    CheckList

    Copeia (2)

    Coral Reefs (4)

    Cybium

    Environmental Biology of Fishes (2)

    Evolution (5)

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (6)

    Genetics and Molecular Biology (2)

    Hydrobiologia

    Ichthyological Research

    Journal of Biogeography (6)

    Journal of Fish Biology (4)

    Journal of Heredity (2)

    Journal of the Marine Biological Association

    Genetics and Molecular Biology

    Marine Biology

    Marine Ecology Progress Series (2)

    Marine and Freshwater Research

    Molecular Ecology (8)

    Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (8)

    Neotropical Ichthyology (2)

    PLoS Biology

    Proceedings of the Meeting of the Association of Caribbean Marine Labs

    Zootaxa (10)

Grant reviews for:

    National Science Foundation – Biological Oceanography

    National Science Foundation – Evolutionary Processes

    National Science Foundation – Systematic Biology

    National Marine Fisheries Service

NEWS COVERAGE

“Invasive species may increase with global warming” at MongaBay.com

“Ocean invaders in deep time” at ScienceDaily.com

“Ocean invaders in deep time” at BrightSurf.com

“Ocean invaders in deep time” at AAAS news EurekAlert.org

“The evolution of ring species complexes”, at Scientific American Brazil [in Portuguese]

Faculty of 1000 Evaluations of Ecological Speciation, by John Pandolfi and Mark Hay

“An (ecological) origin of species for tropical reef fish” at BiologyNews.net

“An (ecological) origin of species for tropical reef fish” at Innovations-Report.com

“An (ecological) origin of species for tropical reef fish” at AAAS news EurekAlert.org

“Darwin Scores a Point in DNA Test of Fish” at LiveScience.com

“Habitat, not isolation, affect species” at the Honolulu Star Bulletin

“Biodiversity of tropical reef fishes” at the University of Hawaii News page