Our research would not be possible without the funding support from federal agencies and academic institutions. 

Publications

2024. Calderón-Gutiérrez F, Gonzalez B, Iliffe TM, Labonté J, Mejía- Ortíz LM and Borda E. Cryptic diversity patterns of subterranean estuaries. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 291 (2024): 20241483. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.1483

Past Funding

A new Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at Texas A&M University Galveston (TAMUG), which is located on the Texas Gulf Coast, will be established with this award. The REU Site: Ocean and Coastal Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU-OCEANUS) will host ten participants in each summer for three years during a 10-week REU program. Students will have the opportunity to conduct independent, marine-focused research. 

REUs will work in active research labs, be mentored by the research faculty and use state-of-the-art scientific facilities and resources. Participating faculty mentors from the Department of Marine Biology, Department of Marine Sciences and Department of Ocean Engineering will engage REUs in ongoing diverse research topics including: Gulf of Mexico coastal wetlands response to climate change; shark feeding ecology; hydrozoan biodiversity; tsunami modeling; Texas coast paleoclimatology, sedimentology, physical/chemical oceanography and geology; Caribbean reef fish speciation; and Arctic Ocean biogeochemistry. REU students will gain skills in communicating their research by completing a research prospectus, a mock research budget and budget justification, an oral presentation, a Research Symposium oral and poster presentation, and a three-minute video abstract. The program will engage students in various enrichment activities, including research seminars given by the faculty, graduate school planning and workshops designed to enhance REU scholar success and to highlight various career options. The site will recruit students from diverse backgrounds with active recruitment efforts nationwide and at institutions serving as alliance partner institutions of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Programs in Texas.

This action funds an NSF Minority Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2007. The goal of the fellowship is to increase the participation of minority scientists at the postdoctoral level and to prepare them for positions of scientific leadership in US science. To attain this goal, the fellowship provides opportunities for postdoctoral training and research of the highest quality to recent doctoral recipients. It is expected that Fellows supported through these fellowships will play important roles in training of the future workforce.

The research and training plan is entitled "Systematics and mitochondrial genome evolution of fireworms." The goal of this study is to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Amphinomida (Annelida: Amphinomida), a group of poorly studied marine annelids. By assessing the evolutionary rates of mitochondrial (mt) genomes across diverse fireworm species, it will be possible to select appropriate mt markers in order to examine amphinomid relationships in a phylogenetic context. 

Publications

• 2015. Borda E, Yáñez-Rivera B, Ochoa GM, Kudenov JD, Sanchez-Ortiz C, Schulze A and Rouse G. Revamping Amphinomidae (Annelida: Amphinomida), with the inclusion of Notopygos. Zoologica Scripta 44 (3): 324–333.  https://doi.org/10.1111/zsc.12099

• 2014. Borda E and Kudenov JD. Euphrosinidae (Annelida: Amphinomida) collected from Antarctica by the R/V Polarstern in 1984 and 1986, with comments on the generic placement of Euphrosine magellanica. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 126(4): 299-311 https://doi.org/10.2988/0006-324X-126.4.299

• 2013. Borda E, Kudenov JD, Blake JA, Chevaldonné P, Desbruyères D, Hourdez S, Fabri M-C, Pleijel F, Schulze A, Shank T, Wilson NG and Rouse GW. Cryptic species of Archinome (Annelida: Amphinomida) from vents and seeps. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 280(1770) https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.1876

• 2013. Ahrens J, Borda E, Barroso R, Campbell AM, Wolf A, Nugues M, Paiva P, Rouse GW and Schulze A. The curious case of Hermodicecarunculata (Annelida: Amphinomidae): evidence for genetic homogeneity throughout the Atlantic Ocean and associated basins. Molecular Ecology  22(8): 2280-2291  **Cover Article** https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.12263 

• 2012. Borda E, Kudenov JD, Beinhold C and Rouse GW. Towards a revised Amphinomidae (Annelida, Amphinomida): description and affinities of a new genus and species from the Nile Deep-sea Fan, Mediterranean Sea.  Zoologica Scripta. 40(3): 307–325 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1463-6409.2012.00529.x