Dr. Paul Barber

Biography

Paul Barber is a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA. His laboratory focuses on integrating genetics, ecology, and oceanography to understand the processes that promote speciation in marine environments, particularly in areas that create marine biodiversity hotspots. Over the past decade, Barber has studied fish and invertebrates in the Coral Triangle, known as a global epicenter of marine biodiversity. His research adopts a comparative approach to examine the roles of tectonic history, physical oceanography, and organismal ecologies in limiting genetic connectivity and promoting evolutionary lineage diversification. Recent work includes integrating empirical models of connectivity with predictions from geographically explicit models of contemporary and historical ocean currents. Barber collaborates closely with conservation organizations like Conservation International to apply scientific findings to conservation planning, aiming to protect endangered reef ecosystems. His interests also encompass the role of natural selection and adaptation in shaping population genetic patterns, particularly the genetic basis of energetic performance and selective mortality in marine larvae.

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