Dr. Ruth D. Gates
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606
(310) 206 7885, rgates@ucla.edu

I am a Researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles with a joint appointment in the Department of Organismic Biology and Ecology and the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics. I received both my B.Sc. and PhD in Marine Biology from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK and completed the research for the latter during a two-year stay at the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory in Jamaica. I am interested in the way in which animals interface with and respond to their environment, with an emphasis on the cell and molecular biology of corals and the evolution and development of metazoan sensory structures.

My work is varied and very fulfilling. I spend several months a year in the laboratory at UCLA conducting experimental work, supervising the other members of the laboratory, and writing grants and scientific manuscripts. I particularly like to modify experimental protocols that have been designed for vertebrate systems so they can be used to address research questions in reef corals and other ancient organisms. I also enjoy the one on one teaching experience that the laboratory environment provides. The undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in the lab are a talented and enthusiastic group of individuals who are working on a diverse set of projects. As such, there are always plenty of questions and problems that need to be addressed and solved. I spend the remaining part of my year conducting research on corals in the field, and stockpiling samples for analysis in the laboratory. To date, I have worked at locations throughout the Caribbean, Hawaii and Australia. I spend as much time as possible in the water during these trips and feel extraordinarily lucky to have the opportunity to dive on some of the most beautiful marine habitats in the world.

As a child I was fascinated by the ocean and always wanted to be a marine biologist. I was glued to the TV set watching the Jacques Cousteau underwater explorations, and fantasized about becoming the female version of this media icon when I was older. As a family, we spent countless hours in and around the water, and I could swim like a fish by the time I was six. Surprisingly, I didn't learn to dive until I was in my 20's, however the first time I put a tank on my back I was hooked. Since then, I have had many memorable moments in the water and each time I dive or go snorkeling I see new things that both amaze and amuse me. It is during these moments that I marvel at how lucky I am to have found and pursued a profession that I enjoy so much.

During this mission, I am a member of the surface crew and will be diving on the Aquarius habitat daily, attending organizational meetings with the aquanauts in the habitat, and conducting laboratory based experiments on the shore. The main goal of the project is to determine how sensitive coral larvae are to elevations in seawater temperatures. The mission also provides the backdrop for a number of side projects and in this context I will be sampling five reefs including the one that is home to the Aquarius habitat to explore the genetic relationship between the corals on each of these reefs.

Outside of my professional life, I attend karate classes twice a week and go to the gym regularly. I also love to garden and cook and spend as much time as possible with my partner and friends.

To anyone reading this who is interested in becoming a marine biologist, I would advise you to study hard and…GO FOR IT.