Deborah Gochfeld
Principal Scientist in National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Professor of Environmental Toxicology in Biomolecular Sciences and Adjunct Professor of Biology
Dr. Gochfeld’s research interests include marine chemical ecology, ecology of marine diseases, and effects of anthropogenic and natural stressors on marine ecosystems, particularly coral reefs and oyster reefs.
Research Interests
- Chemical ecology: chemical adaptations of marine organisms to pathogens, predators and competitors, and biotechnological potential of defensive compounds.
- Ecology of marine diseases: responses of corals and sponges to disease, ranging from the immunological/cellular level to the community level.
- Effects of natural and anthropogenic stressors on marine ecosystems: Current and recent projects include evaluating climate change impacts (including extreme storm and flooding events, ocean acidification), nutrient stress, sedimentation, invasive species, pollutants and emerging diseases on the health of sponges, corals and oysters. These and other stressors have physiological effects on organisms that affect not only their own survival, but also their interactions with other organisms in their communities.
Biography
Dr. Gochfeld is a Principal Scientist in the National Center for Natural Products Research and Research Professor in the Department of BioMolecular Sciences Division of Environmental Toxicology at the University of Mississippi. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Vassar College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with Honors. As an undergraduate, she learned to SCUBA dive and studied abroad in St. Croix, USVI, where her interest in marine science developed. She then received her Ph.D. in Zoology, with an emphasis in Marine Ecology, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her graduate research focused on interactions between corals and coral-feeding butterflyfishes, and combined field and laboratory research in Hawaii and Papua New Guinea.
After completing her doctorate, Dr. Gochfeld moved to Jamaica for a year, where served as Resident Director of the Hofstra University Marine Laboratory. There, she taught marine science to study abroad groups, Elderhostel groups and local primary schools. Dr. Gochfeld was then awarded an NIH National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellowship in marine natural products chemistry in the Department of Pharmacognosy at the University of Mississippi. Following her postdoctoral training, she was offered a Research Scientist position in the National Center for Natural Products Research where her research has focused on using chemical ecology to guide marine natural products sourcing for drug discovery, chemical ecology of species interactions on coral reefs, ecology of marine diseases, and effects of natural and anthropogenic stressors on marine organisms and their communities. While still working with corals and fishes, Dr. Gochfeld’s interests have expanded over time to include sponges and, more recently, oysters.
Education
Diploma General Studies, Princeton High School (1980)
B.A. Biology, Vassar College (1987)
Ph.D. Zoology, University of Hawaii at Manoa (1988)