Mark Vermeij
Post-doctoral associate
Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Science (CIMAS)
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami (RSMAS)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
mark.vermeij@noaa.gov

Dr. Vermeij studies the ecology and evolution of Caribbean stony corals. In particular, he studies the mechanisms that structure coral populations and the evolutionary pathways that led to a variety of closely related coral species.

Dr. Vermeij grew up in a small village in the south of the Netherlands. After graduation, he moved to Groningen to study marine biology at the University of Groningen (RuG). There he developed a keen interest in marine biology and was given a first chance to work on tropical reefs on Bonaire in 1995. On Bonaire the early life stages of parrotfish were studied in a self-constructed marine lab in the backyard of and under supervision of Drs. Gerard Geertjes. After this first introduction to tropical marine biology, another study followed on Bonaire's sister island Curacao. This time the population genetics and dynamics of a common brown alga were studied. Then a short series of trips followed to study seaweeds in France, Bonaire and the Canary Islands.

After graduating from college, Dr. Vermeij was admitted into the Ph.D. program of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Working under Prof. Dr. Bak, he returned to Curacao and lived there from 1998 until 2002. For his dissertation research, he studied the ecology and evolution of six common species of the coral genus Madracis. During this period various hypotheses were developed to explain speciation in corals and a new coral species was discovered. Based at the Caribbean Institute for Marine Biology, various other projects were undertaken during this period from dissecting dead whales, organizing local coral spawning events and studying deep reefs by submersible.

After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Vermeij received a position as a post-doctoral associate at the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Science (CIMAS) in Miami. Recent projects include a modeling approach to reveal the fundamental processes of coral population organization, the nature of marginal habitats and research on early life stages in various coral species from the Florida Keys. If not underwater to study corals, he can be found in the swimming pool playing underwater hockey, on a beach flying a kite, or back in the Netherlands walking around on clogs.