Melissa DeBiasse
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​Download my January 2023 CV

Contact
mdebiasse@ucmerced.edu
melissa.debiasse@gmail.com


Current Position

Project Scientist, University of California Merced
     Supervisor: Michael N Dawson (August 2020 – present) http://mnd.ucmerced.edu
      

Education
PhD (2014) Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
     Advisor: Michael E. Hellberg
     Recipient of a Louisiana Board of Regents fellowship (2008-2012)      
MSc (2008) Marine Biology, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL
     Advisor: Mahmood S. Shivji
BSc (2003) Biology (minor in History), Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
 
Research Experience
Postdoctoral Scholar (2016-2020) Evolutionary genomics and phylogenomics in marine invertebrates. University of Florida Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience. Supervisor: Joseph F. Ryan

PostdoctoralScholar (2014-2016) Phenotypic and transcriptomic responses to biotic and abiotic stressors in marine invertebrates. Louisiana State University. Supervisor: Morgan W. Kelly  

Doctoral Student (2008-2014) Model-based tests of historical demography and species delimitation in a coral reef sponge genus. Louisiana State University

Masters Student (2004-2008) Conservation genetics and phylogeography of marine invertebrates. National Coral Reef Institute and Guy Harvey Research Institute, Nova Southeastern University

Graduate Internship (2003-2004). Acoustic monitoring of estuarine habitat use by juvenile sharks and effects of environmental pollutants on reproduction and development in elasmobranchs. Mote Marine Lab Center for Shark Research, Sarasota, FL. Advisors: Michelle R. Heupel and James J. Gelsleichter
 
Publications (h​-index: 15; 
*undergraduate student author; mentored student authors: 11)
26. Oritz J*, Bobkov YV, DeBiasse MB, Mitchell D, Edgar A, Martindale MQ, Moss AG, Hammar K, Babonis LS, Ryan JF (accepted) Independent innexin radiation shaped signaling in ctenophores. Molecular Biology and Evolution. *Undergraduate author. Preprint: biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.10.11.511657v1 

25. 
DeBiasse MB, Stubler AS, Kelly MW (2022) Comparative transcriptomics reveals altered species interaction between the sponge Cliona varians and the coral Porites furcata under ocean acidification. ​Molecular Ecology

24. DeBiasse MB, Schiebelhut LM, Escalona M, Beraut E, Fairbairn C, Marimuthu M, Nguyen O, Sahasrabudhe R, Dawson MN (2022) A chromosome-level reference genome for the giant pink sea star, Pisaster brevispinus, a species severely impacted by wasting. Journal of Heredity

23. Paggeot LX, 
DeBiasse MB, Escalona M, Beraut E, Fairbairn C, Marimuthu M, Nguyen O, Sahasrabudhe R, Dawson MN (2022) Reference genome for the California ribbed mussel, Mytilus californianus, an ecosystem engineer. Journal of Heredity

22. Bernardi G, DeBiasse MB, Escalona M, Marimuthu M, Nguyen O, Sacco S, Beraut E, Miller C, Toffelmier C, Shaffer BH (2022) Reference genome of the California Sheephead, Semicossyphus pulcher (Labridae, Perciformes), a keystone fish predator in kelp forest ecosystems. Journal of Heredity  

21. Ketchum RN, Smith EG, DeBiasse MB, Vaughan GO, McPharland D, Leach WB, Al-Mansoori N, Ryan JF, Burt JA, Reitzel AM  (accepted) Population genomic analyses of the sea urchin Echinometra sp. EZ  across an extreme environmental gradient. ​Genome Biology and Evolution

​
20. DeBiasse MB, Colgan W*, Harris L*, Davidson B, JF Ryan (2020) Inferring tunicate relationships and the evolution of the tunicate Hox cluster with the genome of Corella inflata. Genome Biology and Evolution. *Undergraduate author

19. ​Dardaillon J, Dauga D, Simion P, Onuma T, DeBiasse MB, Louis A, Naville M, Besnardeau L, Reeves W, Wang Kai, Fagotto M, Guéroult-Bellone M, Fujiwara S, Dumollard R, Veeman M, Volff J, Roest Crollius H, Douzery E, Ryan JF, Davidson B, NISHIDA, Dantec C, Lemaire P (2019) ANISEED 2019: 4D exploration of genetic data for an extended range of tunicates. Nucleic Acids Research

18. Colgan W*, Leanza A, Hwang A, DeBiasse MB, Llosa I*, Rodrigues D*, Adhikari H*, Barreto Corona G*, Bock S*, Carillo-Perez A*, Currie M*, Darkoa-Larbi S, Dellal D, Gutow H*, Hokama P*, Kibby E*, Linhart N*, Moody S*, Naganuma A*, Nguyen D, Stanton R*, Stark S, Tumey C*, Velleca A, Vu, N*, Ryan JF, Davidson B (2019) Variable levels of drift in tunicate cardiopharyngeal gene regulatory elements. EvoDevo, 10. *Undergraduate author

17. Pastrana CC*, DeBiasse MB, Ryan JF (2019) Sponges lack Parahox genes. Genome Biology and
Evolution. *Undergraduate author

16. Richards VP, DeBiasse MB, Shivji MS (2019) Deep mitochondrial lineage divergence among
populations of the southern stingray (Hypanus americana) throughout the Southeastern United States and Caribbean. Marine Biodiversity
​
15. DeBiasse MB, Ryan JF (2019) Phylotocol: promoting transparency and overcoming bias in phylogenetics. Systematic Biology


14. Ketchum R, DeBiasse MB, Ryan JF, Burt J, Reitzel A (2018) The complete mitochondrial genome of  the sea urchin Echinometra sp. EZ. Mitochondrial DNA Part B: Resources

13. Babonis LS, DeBiasse MB, Francis WR, Christianson LM, Haddock SHD, Martindale MQ, Ryan JF (2018) Integrating embryonic development and evolutionary history to characterize tentacle-specific cell types in a ctenophore. Molecular Biology and Evolution

12. Rivest EB, Kelly MW, DeBiasse MB, Hofmann GE (2018) Host and symbionts in Pocillopora damicornis larvae display different transcriptomic responses to ocean acidification. Frontiers in Marine Science

11. DeBiasse MB, Kawji Y*, Kelly MW (2018) Parallel phenotypic and transcriptomic response to salinity stress across Tigriopus californicus populations separated by 1000 kilometers. Molecular Ecology. *Undergraduate author

10. Kelly MW, DeBiasse MB, Villela V*, Roberts H*, Cecola C* (2016) Adaptation to climate change: trade-offs among responses to multiple stressors. Evolutionary Applications​. *Undergraduate author

9. Kelly MW, Pankey MS, DeBiasse MB, Plachetzki DC (2016) Adaptation to heat stress reduces phenotypic and gene expression plasticity in a marine copepod. ​Functional Ecology

8. DeBiasse MB, Richards VP, Shivji MS, Hellberg MH (2016) Shared phylogeographic breaks in a Caribbean coral reef sponge and its invertebrate commensals. Journal of Biogeography

7. Brzeski KE, DeBiasse MB, Rabon Jr. DR, Chamberlain MJ, Taylor SS (2016) Mitochondrial DNA variation in Southeastern pre-Columbian canids. Journal of Heredity

6. DeBiasse MB, Kelly MW (2016) Plastic and adaptive responses to global change: what can we learn from comparative transcriptomics? Journal of Heredity

5. DeBiasse MB, Hellberg MH (2015) Discordance between morphological and molecular species boundaries among Caribbean species of the reef sponge Callyspongia. Ecology and Evolution

4. Richards VP, DeBiasse MB, Shivji MS (2015) Genetic evidence supports larval retention in the Western Caribbean for an invertebrate with high dispersal capability (Ophiothrix suensonii: Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea). Coral Reefs

3. Prada C, DeBiasse MB, Neigel JE, Yedock B, Stake J, Forsman ZH, Baums IB, Hellberg ME (2014) Genetic species delineation among branching Caribbean Porites corals. Coral Reefs

2. DeBiasse MB, Nelson BJ, Hellberg ME (2014). Evaluating summary statistics used to test for incomplete lineage sorting: mito-nuclear discordance in the reef sponge Callyspongia vaginalis. Molecular Ecology

1. DeBiasse MB, Richards VP, Shivji MS (2010) Genetic assessment of connectivity in the common reef sponge, Callyspongia vaginalis (Demospongiae: Haplosclerida) reveals high population structure along the Florida reef tract.  Coral Reefs
 

Coming soon...


DeBiasse MB, Buckenmeyer A*, Macrander J, Babonis LS, Bentlage B, Cartwright P, Prada C, Reitzel AM, Stampar SN, Collins AG, Daly M, Ryan JF (in revision) Illuminating the Cnidaria tree of life with a phylogenomic backbone fitted with hundreds of 18S leaves. ​Bulletin of the Society of Systematic Biologists. *Undergraduate author

DeBiasse MB, Schiebelhut LM, Dawson MN (in prep) Comparative genomics of sea star wasting across the asteroid tree using chromosome-level assemblies

Hernandez AM, DeBiasse MB, Dykes LL, Edgar A, Hayes DT, Grosso DJ, Babonis LS, Martindale MQ, Ryan JF (in prep) The genome of a ctenophore-eating ctenophore reveals evolutionary genomic and transcriptomic dynamics within Ctenophora  
 ​
Stampar SN, Maronna MM, Kitahara MV, Lopes CSS, Santos TB, Reimer JD, Gameiro EM, Yap NWL, Neo ML, Sumida PY, Klompen AML, Macrander J, Reitzel AM, DeBiasse MB, Ryan JF, Daly M, Broe M, Morandini AC, Migotto AE (in prep) Evolution in Ceriantharia (Cnidaria): life cycle plasticity blurs traditional systematics in cerianthids


Grants and Awards
2021-2024 National Science Foundation, Division of Ocean Sciences, Biological Oceanography. Collaborative Research: Understanding bioerosion from individuals to ecosystems: the impacts of biotic and abiotic stressors on sponge erosion of oyster reefs. Award number 2048449. $530,000 [$218,900 to co-PI DeBiasse]

2014 American Genetics Association Ecological Genomics Symposium Travel Award $500
2013, 2014 Molecular Ecology Best Reviewer
2013 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Short Term Fellowship,  “The effects of climate change and species interaction on calcification in the reef building coral Porites furcata,” $2,400
2013 Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research Award, National Chapter, $500
2012 Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research Award, Louisiana State University Chapter, $500
2012 Lerner Gray Grant for Marine Research, $1,990
2010 Best Oral Presentation, Louisiana State University Biology Graduate Student Symposium
2009 Research Award, Louisiana State University Biology Graduate Student Association, $600
2008-2012 Louisiana Board of Regents Fellowship $80,000


Teaching Experience
Lead Instructor, 2022 LSU Bioinformatics Workshop (July 18-22) Louisiana State University
            Topic: 5-day workshop covering application of genomic and transcriptomic data to biology and ecology, high
            throughput sequencing, high performance computing, command line navigation and basic R scripting

Lead Instructor, Comparative Genomics (Fall 2021) Dawson Lab, University of California Merced
           Topic: 15-session, hands-on workshop covering high throughput sequencing, high performance computing, 
            genome assembly and comparative analyses of chromosome-level genomes

Guest Lecturer, Biology for non-majors (Spring 2019) Dept. of Biology, Flagler College
           Topic:  species concepts and speciation
Guest Lecturer, Evolution (Spring 2016) Dept. of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University
         
Topic:  species and speciation
Guest Lecturer, Evolution (Fall 2015) Dept. of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University
          Topic:   molecular phylogenetics and evolution
Guest Lecturer, Evolution (Spring 2015) Dept. of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University
          Topic:   molecular methods of species delimitation.
Guest Lecturer, Evolution (Spring 2014) Dept. of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University
          Topic:  
species and speciation
Teaching Assistant, Invertebrate Zoology Laboratory (Fall 2013) Dept. of Biological Sciences,
          Louisiana State University. Lead laboratories involving observation of live invertebrates. Organized an outreach
          event at a local elementary school

Teaching Assistant, Introductory Biology Laboratory (Fall 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014) Dept. of
          Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University. Lead laboratories covering topics ranging from
          photosynthesis and respiration to evolution and biodiversity
Teaching Assistant, Genetics Laboratory (Fall 2005-Spring 2008) Division of Math, Science, and
          Technology, Nova Southeastern University. Lead laboratories covering topics ranging from
          DNA extraction and sequencing to bioinformatics and phylogenetic methods
 
Students Mentored

2020-             Bailey Carlson                 Graduate Student            UC Merced
2020-             Karly Higgins-Poling     Graduate Student            UC Merced
2020-             Non Wutthituntisil         Graduate Student            UC Merced
2020-             Lisa Paggeot                    Graduate Student            UC Merced

2019               Jennifer Ortiz                  Undergraduate                 Iowa State University/REU
2018               Telissa Wilson                  Graduate Student            The Evergreen State College
2018               Remi Ketchum                Graduate Student           UNC Charlotte 
2018               Ariane Buckenmeyer    Undergraduate                Connecticut College/REU
2017               Michelle McGurr            High School teacher      Darnell-Cookman High School
2017               Aaron Szczepanek         Post-baccalaureate        UF Whitney Laboratory
2017               Claudia Cabrera             Undergraduate                University of Miami/REU
2017               Logan Campbell            Undergraduate                University of Tennessee/REU
2016-2020      Alexandra Hernandez    Graduate Student          UF Whitney Laboratory
2016-2020      Jessica Whelpley         Graduate Student          UF Whitney Laboratory
2015-2016     Daniel Liu                        Undergraduate                Louisiana State University
2015-2016     Colleen Cecola              Undergraduate                Louisiana State University
2015-2016     Vidal Villela                     Undergraduate                Louisiana State University
2015-2016     Hope Roberts                Undergraduate                Louisiana State University
2014-2016     Will Murdock                  Undergraduate                Louisiana State University
2014                Byanjana Thapa            Undergraduate                Fairleigh Dickenson/HHMI
2014                Brandon Lawson          Undergraduate                Louisiana State University
2014                Elliot Wheeler                Undergraduate                Louisiana State University
2013-2015     Chelsea Wallace           High School                       LSU EnvironMentors
2013               Jamie Gay                        Undergraduate                University of Colorado/STRI
2013               Sarah White                     Undergraduate                University of Colorado/STRI
2010               Catalina Restrepo          Undergraduate                Louisiana State University
2010               Maria Costantini            Undergraduate                Rowan University/HHMI
2010               Maxine Tan                     Undergraduate                 Eckerd College/HHMI             

​Invited Seminars
Eroding sponges and wasting sea stars: unifying ecological and evolutionary timescales using genomics. Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, May 2022

Eroding sponges and wasting sea stars: unifying ecological and evolutionary timescales using genomics. University of Texas Marine Science Institute, March 2022

​Boring sponges and glowing ctenophores: genomes reveal how marine invertebrates respond to their environment over minutes and millions of years. University of Alabama, March 2020. Watch my presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgn5CcBoLEc


Boring sponges and glowing ctenophores: using genomes to understand how marine invertebrates respond to their environment within minutes & over millions of years. Occidental College Biology Department Seminar Series, April 2019

Phylotocol presented as part of the Data Standards and Community Resources Forum, Society of Systematic Biologist Meeting, Columbus, OH, June 2018

What to do with a billion years of evolution. Species Tree Estimation Workshop, Society of Systematic Biologists Meeting, Columbus, OH, June 2018

Detecting convergent sequence evolution using parametric bootstrapping. NGS Polar Organism Workshop, SICB, San Francisco, CA, January 2018

Adaptation to the deep sea in ctenophores, the comb jellies. Daytona State College, Daytona Beach, FL, November 2017  

Model-based tests of historical demography and species boundaries in the reef sponge Callyspongia. Department of Biology, University of Florida, April 2017

DEEPC: The deep, dark genomic secrets of ctenophores. Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, April 2017

​Patterns of genomic and phenotypic variation over evolutionary and ecological timescales in marine invertebrates. Department of Biology, University of North Florida, November 2015

Patterns of genomic and phenotypic variation over evolutionary and ecological timescales in marine invertebrates. Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology Seminar Series, The Ohio State University, October 2015

Genomic basis of salinity tolerance in Tigriopus copepods. Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science Seminar Series, Louisiana State University, September 2015

Using transcriptomic data to test biotic and abiotic interactions in marine invertebrates. Keynote speaker for Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium, Louisiana State University, July 2015. Watch my presentation here: http://bit.ly/1GFNcBY
 
Conference Presentations

DeBiasse MB, Olson C, Pfitzer Price A, Samaniego L, Kelly MW, Stubler AS (2023) The impacts of biotic & abiotic stressors on sponge bioerosion. Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology, Austin, TX

DeBiasse MB, Scheibelhut LM, Dawson MN (2022) Genomic associations with wasting syndromes in sea starts: a comparative approach. Regional meeting of the Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC

DeBiasse MB, Colgan W, Harris L, Davidson B, Ryan JF (2019) The Corella inflata genome: reconstructing the ancestral enterogonid tunicate. Evolution, Providence, Rhode Island

DeBiasse MB, Babonis L, Schnitzler C, Koren S, Martindale MQ, Ryan JF (2019) The complete genome sequence of Beroe ovata, a tentacle-less, ctenophore-chomping ctenophore. Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology, Tampa, FL

DeBiasse MB, Francis W, Thuesen E, Haddock S, Ryan J (2018) DEEPC: adaptation to depth in
ctenophores. Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology, San Francisco, CA

DeBiasse MB, Francis W, Thuesen E, Haddock S, Ryan J (2017) DEEPC: The deep, dark genomic secrets of ctenophores. BioGenomics, Washington, DC

DeBiasse MB, Stubler AS, Kelly MW (2017) Testing the effect of ocean acidification on a sponge-coral species interaction. Society for Comparative and Integrative Biology, New Orleans, LA

DeBiasse MB, Kelly, MW (2016) Intraspecific variation in phenotypic and transcriptomic plasticity in Tigriopus californicus in response to salinity stress. Evolution, Austin, Texas

DeBiasse MB, Hellberg ME (2015) Discordance between morphological and molecular species boundaries in the sponge genus Callyspongia. Society for Systematic Biologists Meeting, Ann Arbor, Michigan

DeBiasse MB, Kelly MW (2014) The genomic basis of adaptation to salinity in the tide pool copepod Tigriopus californicus. American Genetics Association Ecological Genomics Symposium, Kansas City, Missouri

DeBiasse MB, Hellberg ME (2012) Mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences show conflicting patterns of genetic structure in the coral reef sponge Callyspongia vaginalis. Evolution, Ottawa, Canada

DeBiasse MB, Hellberg ME (2010) Mitochondrial and nuclear gene sequences show conflicting patterns of divergence among putative cryptic species in the marine sponge Callyspongia vaginalis. World Sponge Conference, Girona, Spain

DeBiasse MB, Richards VP, Shivji MS (2008) Genetic connectivity in the branching vase sponge (Callyspongia vaginalis) across the Florida reef tract and Caribbean. 11th International Coral Reef Symposium, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

DeBiasse MB, Richards VP, Shivji MS (2007) Genetic assessment of connectivity among populations of the branching vase sponge (Callyspongia vaginalis) in the Florida reef tract reveals a strong phylogeographic break at the Middle Keys.  Florida Ecology and Evolution Symposium, Lake Placid, Florida
 

Field Work

March 2022 Wilmington, NC. Collected sponge-infested oyster shells, nudibranchs, and gastropods
for manipulative experiments testing sponge response to predation


December 2016 Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute research cruise on the RV Western Flyer. Assisted in the collection of pelagic invertebrates using blue water diving, mid-water trawls, and the ROV Doc Ricketts

June-August 2013 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Bocas del Toro, Panama. Performed long-term experiments to test the effect of ocean acidification on a sponge/coral species interaction. Project included sample collection and construction and maintenance of 180 mesocosm tanks

May 2007 Dry Tortugas National Park. Organized and led a 7-day dive trip to sample sponges and brittle stars for phylogeography research      

May 2006 Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras. Organized a 7-day dive trip to collect sponge and coral samples for phylogeography research   

March 2006 Crooked Island, Bahamas. Organized a five-day dive trip to collect coral reef invertebrate samples for phylogeography research 

December 2003 Tampa, Florida. Participated in five-day research cruise for a mark-recapture project focusing on sharks from the Gulf of Mexico
 
Invited Courses
Evolutionary Genomics of Non-Model Species: Next Generation Sequencing, Data Management,
and Hypothesis Testing. Sponsored by the American Genetics Association. Irapuato, Mexico, 2011
 
NSF AToL: Taxonomy, Systematics, and Ecology of Sponges. Smithsonian Tropical Research
Institute, Bocas del Toro, Panama, 2010
 
Service
Awards Committee, Society of Systematic Biologists, 2019-present

Ad hoc reviewer for NSF Division of Environmental Biology, 2016, 2020, 2023
Reviewer for Society of Systematic Biologists graduate student grant proposals, 2018-2019
Whitney Research Seminar coordinator, 2017-2019
Darwin Week outreach at local elementary and high schools, Northeastern FL, 2017-2019
Instructor for biotechnology lab outreach, Pedro Menendez High School, St. Augustine, FL, 2017-2019
Contributor to The Molecular Ecologist blog, 2014-2016
Founder of LSU Women in Science organization, 2014
Mentor for Louisiana State University Chapter of EnvironMentors, 2012-2015
Mentor for undergraduate Howard Hughes Medical Institute interns, Summers 2009, 2014
Mentor for LSU Upward Bound, Spring 2014
Graduate Student Rep for LSU Computational Biology faculty position search committee, 2014
Graduate Student Rep for LSU Aquatic Ecology faculty position search committee, 2013 
Exhibitor for Louisiana State Sea Grant program Ocean Commotion, 2008-2016
 
Reviewer for Nature Climate Change, Molecular Ecology, Evolution, Systematic Biology, Genome Biology and Evolution, Heredity, BMC Evolutionary Biology, BMC Genomics, Integrative and Comparative Biology, Journal of Biogeography, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Coral Reefs, Marine Biology, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Aquatic Biology, PLOS ONE, Peer J, Scientific Reports, Biodiversity and Conservation
​
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