Juan Carlos Villaseñor-Derbez
Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science and Policy
jc_villasenor@miami.edu
Juan Carlos Villaseñor-Derbez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy and a Core Faculty member at the Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing. He applies modern data science tools to study the human dimensions of marine conservation and environmental change. His research leverages extensive vessel-tracking and georeferenced fisheries data to explore the costs and benefits of Marine Protected Areas and other area-based conservation measures, focusing on their magnitude and distribution.
Gabriel Reygondeau
Associate Professor, Department of Marine Biology and Ecology
gabriel.reygondeau@miami.edu
Dr. Gabriel Reygondeau is a marine biogeographer and oceanographer whose interdisciplinary research explores the complex interplay between oceanographic processes, biodiversity, and human impacts on marine ecosystems. With a Ph.D. from the University of Montpellier and a robust international academic path—including positions at Yale University, the University of British Columbia, and currently as an Associate Professor at the University of Miami—his work spans global to regional scales. He specializes in modeling species distributions, analyzing climate-driven changes in marine biodiversity, and supporting conservation efforts through big data analytics. As the coordinator of AquaMaps and co-coordinator of FishBase, Dr. Reygondeau plays a pivotal role in developing global biodiversity databases and decision-support tools for marine spatial planning. His research, published in top-tier journals, informs global initiatives such as the IPCC and Half Earth, and aims to guide sustainable ocean governance in a changing climate.
Paul Sikkel
Research Professor, Department of Marine Biology and Ecology
pcs75@earth.miami.edu
Paul Sikkel is a Research Professor in the Department of Marine Biology and Ecology. His research is rooted in field studies in marine ecology, particularly fish behavior, and currently focuses on the role and importance of “cryptofauna”, particularly parasites. His work occurs in both the tropical western Atlantic and Indo Pacific, including The Philippines, Australia, South Africa, and Micronesia and leverages the “natural experiments” created my marine protected and adjacent fished areas to study effects of human disturbance on host-parasite interactions and associated symbioses such as cleaning behavior. He enables members of local communities through his research and promotes the engagement of artists in science communication.
