Drs. Pim Bongaerts
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Education and Degrees:
2004 B.Sc. Biology (Biology), University of Utrecht, Netherlands.
2006 M.Sc. Biology (Limnology and Oceanography), University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
2007 - present Ph.D. (Biology) student at the Centre for Marine Studies, University of Queensland, Australia
Recent publications relevant to Curacao:
Frade, P, Bongaerts, P, Winkelhagen, A, Tonk, L, Bak, RPM. 2008. In situ photobiology of corals over large depth ranges: a multivariate analysis on the roles of environment, host and algal symbiont. Limnology and Oceanography. In press.
General research Interests:
Coral population genetics; genetic diversity of coral-associated algal symbionts; deep reef community structure.
Research interests on Curacao:
The deep reef seems to be a more homogeneous environment in terms of physical conditions and may offer an escape to a variety of stressors common on the shallow reef. As such, deep coral communities may play an important role acting as refugia, re-seeding the shallow reef after storm events or periods of elevated seawater temperatures. To explore this refugium potential of deep reefs, we investigate the ecology and community structure of mesophotic (i.e. deep) reefs in Curacao (> 30m) and the genetic connectivity of these communities with their shallow-water counterparts.