HIMB | Faculty | Ruth D. Gates

Ruth D. Gates

Researcher

Download CV • Visit Gates Lab Website

Office: (808) 236-7420
Lab: (808) 236-7493
Fax: (808) 236-7443
Email: rgates@hawaii.edu
Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology
PO Box 1346
Kane‘ohe, HI 96744

Education

Ph.D. 1990, Department of Biology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
B.Sc. 1984, Department of Biology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

Research Interests

My broad interests lie in the biological mechanisms and traits that dictate the environmental threshold of marine organisms. Specifically, I am focused on defining attributes in corals that underpin inter- and intra-specific differences in their sensitivity to thermal stress, ocean acidification and pollutants. To accomplish this, my research group examines coral biology at a variety of spatial and temporal scales, and exploits analytical approaches from the fields of genomics, molecular ecology, developmental genetics, computational biology, cell biology, biochemistry, physiology and ecology. For additional details see: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~rgates/Gates_Lab_Website/Gates_Lab.html

Professional Experience

2011 – Present Researcher, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, SOEST, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
2010 Sabbatical Fellow, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California, Santa Barbara.
2007 - 2011 Associate Researcher (tenured), Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, SOEST, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
2003 - 2007 Assistant Researcher (tenure track), Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, SOEST, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
2003 - Present Graduate Faculty, Department of Zoology, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
2003 - Present Graduate Faculty, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
2002 - 2003 Assistant Researcher, Department of Organismic Biology, Ecology and Evolution, University of California.
2002 - 2004 Adjunct Research Scientist, California State University at Northridge.
1988 - 1990 Research Technician, Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University.

Publications

Franklin, E.C., Stat, M., Pochon, X., Putnam, H. M., and Gates R. D. 2012. GeoSymbio: A hybrid, cloud-based web application of global geospatial bioinformatics and ecoinformatics for Symbiodinium-host symbioses. Molecular Ecology Resources 12(2): 369-373.

Takabayashi, M., Adams, L. M., Pochon, X. and Gates, R. D. 2012. Genetic Diversity of Free-Living Symbiodinium in Surface Water and Sediment of Hawai‘i and Florida. Coral Reefs 31(1): 157-167.

Krueger, T. and Gates, R. D. 2012. Cultivating endosymbionts - Host environmental mimics support the survival of Symbiodinium C15 ex hospite. Journal of Experimental Biology and Ecology 413: 169-176.

Pochon, X., Putnam, H. M., Burki, F. and Gates, R. D. 2012. Identifying and characterizing alternative molecular markers for the symbiotic and free-living dinoflagellate genus Symbiodinium. PLos One 7 (1): e29816.

Franklin, E. C., Stat, M., Pochon, X., Putnam, H. M., and Gates, R. D. 2012. Rapid Development of a Hybrid Web (2011) Application for Synthesis Science of Symbiodinium with Google Apps. In: Jones, M. (ed.), Proc. Environ. Info. Manage. 2011 Conf. Santa Barbara, CA.

Gates, R. D. and Ainsworth, T. D. 2011. The nature and taxonomic composition of coral symbiomes as drivers of performance limits in scleractinian corals. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 408: 94–101.

Hédouin, L., Metian, M. and Gates R. D. 2011.Contamination of a Hawaiian coral reef ecosystem (Honolua Bay, Maui) by metals and a metalloid: An ecotoxicological and ecological study. Marine Environmental Research 71: 149-161.

Stat, M., Bird C. E, Pochon, X., Chasqui, L., Concepcion G. T., Jones, L., Logan, D, Takabayashi, M., Toonen, R. J. and Gates, R. D. 2011. Endosymbiont (Symbiodinium spp.) composition in individual host colonies contributes to symbiont partitioning across reef environments. PLoS One 6:e15854.

Padilla-Gamiño J. L., Weatherby, T. M., Waller R. G. and Gates, R. D. 2011.Formation and structural organization of the egg-sperm bundle of the scleractinian coral Montipora capitata. Coral Reefs doi:10.1007/s00338-010-0700-8.

Wagner, D., Pochon, X., Irwin, L., Toonen, R. J. and Gates, R. D. 2011. Azooxanthellate? Most Hawaiian black corals contain Symbiodinium. Proceedings of the Royal Society London 278: 1323-1328.

Stat, M. and Gates, R. D. 2011. Clade D Symbiodinium in scleractinian corals: a “nugget” of hope, a selfish opportunist, an ominous sign, or all of the above? Journal of Marine Biology: Article ID 730715, doi:10.1155/2011/730715.

Salerno, J. L., Reineman, D. R., Gates, R. D. and Michael S. Rappé, M. S. 2011. The effect of a sub-lethal temperature elevation on the structure of bacterial communities associated with the coral Porites compressa. Journal of Marine Biology: Article ID 969173, doi:10.1155/2011/969173.

Mayfield, A. B. Hsiao, Y. Y., Fan, T. Y., Chen, C. S. and Gates, R. D. 2010. Evaluating the temporal stability of stress-activated protein kinase and cytoskeleton gene expression in the Pacific reef corals Pocillopora damicornis and Seriatopora hystrix. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 395: 215-222.

Hofmann, G. E., Barry, J. P., Edmunds, P. J., Gates, R. D., Hutchins, D. A., Klinger, T. and Sewell, M. A. 2010. The Effect of Ocean Acidification on Polar, Tropical and Temperate Marine Calcifying Organisms: An Organism to Ecosystem Perspective. Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 41: 127–147.

Lesser, M. P., Slattery, M, Stat, M., Ojimi M., Gates, R. D. and Grottoli, A. 2010.Photoacclimatization by the Coral Montastraea cavernosa in the Mesophotic Zone: Light, Food, and Genetics. Ecology: 91(4): 990-1003.

Ainsworth, T. D., Vega Thurber, R. and Gates, R. D. 2010. The Future of Coral Reefs - A Microbial Perspective. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 25(4): 233-240.

Pochon X. P and Gates, R. D. 2010.A new Symbiodinium clade (Dinophyceae) from soritid foraminifera in Hawai’i. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 56: 492-497.

Barshis, D. J., Stillman, J. H., Gates, R. D., Toonen, R. J., Smith, L.W. and Birkeland, C. 2010. Coral resistance to environmental extremes: a case for host adaptation. Molecular Ecology 19(8): 1705-1720.

Palmer, C. V. and Gates, R. D. 2010. Skeletal Eroding Band in Hawaiian corals ten years after the first Indo-Pacific record. Coral Reefs 29(2): 469-469.

Green, D. H., Edmunds, P. J., Pochon, X. and Gates, R. D. 2010. The effects of substratum type on the growth, mortality, and photophysiology of juvenile corals in St. John, US Virgin Islands. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 384(1-2): 18-29.

Pochon, X., Stat, M., Takabayashi, M., Logan, D., Chasqui, L., Jones, L. and Gates R. D. 2010. Comparison of endosymbiotic and free-living Symbiodinium (Dinophyceae) diversity in a Hawaiian reef environment. Journal of Phycology 46: 53-65.

Yancey, P. H., Heppenstall, M., Ly, S., Raymond, M., Andrell, R. M, Gates R. D., Carter, V. L. and Hagedorn M.2010. Betaines and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) as major osmolytes in Cnidaria with endosymbiotic dinoflagellates. Physiological and Biochemica Zoology 83: 167-173.

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