Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences
17 Biological Lane
St. George's GE 01
Bermuda
Tel: 441-297-1880 ext. 218
Fax: 441-297-8143
E-mail: alex.venn@bios.edu
Molecular Marine Biology



Specialization:
Stress Biology of Corals

Profile:
Dr. Venn's interests focus on the tolerance of foundation species, particularly corals, to changes in their environment. His M.Sc. research in Plymouth and Sydney concerned carbon metabolism in the coral-algal symbiosis, which paved the way to a Ph.D. at the University of York researching coral bleaching, photoprotective pigments in coral symbionts, and changes in symbiont communities in Bermuda. Now a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at BIOS, he is affiliated with both the Molecular Marine Biology Laboratory and the Marine Environmental Program working with Drs. Andrea Bodnar and Ross Jones. He is an underwater photographer and his images have appeared in diving magazines and on the front cover of the scientific journal Marine Pollution Bulletin, and are regularly used in BIOS publications.

Current Research:

• Functional genomics of reef corals and symbiotic dinoflagellates.
• The ecological significance of molecular diversity of coral symbionts (Symbiodinium).

Educational Background:

• B.Sc. Marine Biology (Hons), University of Wales, Swansea, 1998
• M.Sc. Applied Marine Science, University of Plymouth, 2001
• Ph.D. Molecular Marine Biology, University of York, 2006

Selected Publications:

• Venn, A.A., M.A. Wilson, H.G. Trapido-Rosenthal, B.J. Keely and A.E. Douglas. 2006. The impact of coral bleaching on the pigment profile of the symbiotic alga, Symbiodinium. Plant Cell and Environment, 29:2133-2142.
• Venn, A.A., J.E. Loram and A.E. Douglas (2007) Photosynthetic symbioses in animals. Journal of Experimental Botany. IN PRESS.
• Venn, A.A., J.E. Loram, D. Joyce, H.G. Trapido-Rosenthal and A.E. Douglas (2007) Spatio-temporal variability in Symbiodinium communities in Condylactis gigantea. Submitted.
• Venn, A.A., J. Quinn, R.J. Jones and A. Bodnar (2007) Identification and functional analysis of a multixenobiotic resistance (P-glycoprotein) gene holomog, in the reef coral Montastrea franksi. In prep.
• Morgan M., S. Edge, A.A. Venn and R.J. Jones (2007) Using a stressed-focused microarray to characterize coral responses to copper. In prep.