Research
Allyson is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Lirman’s Coral Restoration and Benthic Ecology Laboratory. She received her PhD in Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School for Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and with NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in 2024.
Her dissertation investigated the molecular mechanisms of enhancing coral resilience to heat stress through laboratory and field-based experiments and utilized coral species important for restoration efforts in Florida, including the critically endangered staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis. Prior to her PhD work, she worked as a research intern at Mote Marine Laboratory on Summerland Key, working in coral disease and reproduction.
She is excited to apply her skills to Dr. Lirman’s restoration efforts in south Florida and study methods to increase heat tolerance of different coral species that are propagated and outplanted by his research group and citizen science program.
Publications
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Webb AE, Palacio-Castro AM, Cooke K, Eaton KR, Chomitz B, Soderberg N, Chakraborty M, Zagon Z, Boyd A, Kiel PM, DeMerlis A, Perry CT, Enochs IC (2024) Rubble persistence under Ocean Acidification threatened by accelerated bioerosion and lower-density coral skeletons. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.17371
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DeMerlis A, Kirkland A, Kaufman ML, Mayfield AB, Formel N, Kolodziej G, Manzello DP, Lirman D, Traylor-Knowles N, Enochs IC (2022) Pre-exposure to a variable temperature treatment improves the response of Acropora cervicornis to acute thermal stress. Coral Reefs. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-022-02232-z
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Traylor-Knowles N, Connelly MT, Young BD, Eaton K, Muller EM, Paul VJ, Ushijima B, DeMerlis A, Drown MK, Goncalves A, Kron N, Snyder GA, Martin C, Rodriguez K (2021) Gene expression response to stony coral tissue loss disease transmission in M. cavernosa and O. faveolata from Florida. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.681563
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Koch HR, Wallace B, DeMerlis A, Clark AS, Nowicki RJ (2021) 3D scanning as a tool to measure growth rates of live coral microfragments used for coral reef restoration. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.623645
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