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Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), USA
Paul Barber is a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). His lab uses different techniques to understand the processes of speciation in marine environments. The Coral Triangle, which is the center of marine biodiversity, has been the study system for Paul's lab for the last ten years. Through a comparative approach, Paul's lab is examining the relative importance of tectonic history, physical oceanography, and organismal ecologies in limiting genetic connectivity and promoting evolution and lineage diversification.
Current research in the Barber Lab falls into four main themes: physical drivers of speciation in the coral triangle; measuring marine diversity across geographic and taxonomic scales; ecological drivers of speciation in the coral triangle; and marine conservation. The research coming out of Paul's lab is used to support conservation and sustainability of marine environments around the world.
More information can be found here.
The Coral Triangle is the global epicenter of marine biodiversity. These marine resources are a critical source of jobs and food security in this region. Despite this importance, the reefs of the Coral Triangle are in decline, threatening the stability of this ecosystem and the services it provides humanity. A major obstacle to achieving sustainability in the Coral Triangle is that the size and biological diversity in this region exceeds the science capacity needed to understand its dynamics and to educate the public on its importance. A key to developing this capacity is international partnerships that leverage expertise and resources from the international scientific community with the passion and knowledge of local scientists. Results from genetic and genomic tools highlight the importance of vicariance and ecological speciation in shaping the Coral Triangle biodiversity hotspot. Importantly, by conducting this work in the context of collaborative science capacity building, this work advances our understanding of the processes generating biodiversity in the Coral Triangle while generating data and human resources that will be essential for its protection.
Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), USA