B.S. Michigan State University, 2006
Ph.D., San Diego State University; University of California at San Diego, 2012
Postdoc, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 2012 - 2015
Postdoc, Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, 2015 - 2017
My research is focused on understanding how interactions between reef-building corals and their microbial symbionts influence the biology and ecology of coral reef ecosystems. Coral reefs are increasingly affected by human activity and climate change, and I am interested in how the coral host and it's algal and bacterial symbionts change as they encounter various stressors (e.g. temperature and ocean acidification). My lab utilizes a combination of approaches to address these questions, including cell biology, organismal physiology, microbial ecology, and field experiments and observations.
Potential students and postdoctoral researchers interested in joining the lab should contact me directly.
BIOL102 - Introductory Biology
BIOL325 - Marine Biology
Barott K, M Barron, and M Tresguerres. (2017) Identification of a molecular sensor of pH in coral. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 284(1866): 20171769.
Putnam H*, K Barott*, T Ainsworth, R Gates. (2017) The vulnerability and resilience of reef-building corals. Current Biology. 27(11): pR528-R540. *Contributed equally
Hester, E, Barott K, Nulton J, Vermeij M, and F Rohwer. (2016) Stable and sporadic symbiotic communities of coral and algal holobionts. ISME Journal 10: 1157–1169.
Barott K, Venn A, Perez S, Tambutté S, and M Tresguerres. (2015) Coral host cells acidify symbiotic algal microenvironment to promote photosynthesis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112(2): 607-612.
Barott K, Perez S, Linsmayer L, and M Tresguerres. (2015) Differential localization of ion transporters suggests distinct cellular mechanisms for calcification and photosynthesis between two coral species. American J. Physiology – Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol. 309(3): R235-R246.
Barott K, Helman Y, Hess K, Barron M, Haramaty L, Buck J, Levin L, and M Tresguerres. (2013) High adenylyl cyclase activity and in vivo cAMP fluctuations in corals suggest central physiological role. Scientific Reports 3: 1379.
Barott K, Williams G, Vermeij M, Harris J, Smith J, Rohwer F and S Sandin. (2012) Natural history of coral-algae competition across a gradient of human activity in the Line Islands. Marine Ecology Progress Series 460: 1-12.
Barott K, Rodriquez-Brito B, Youle M, Marhaver K, Vermeij M, Smith J, and F Rohwer. (2012) Microbial to reef scale interactions between the reef-building coral Montastraea annularis and benthic algae. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 279(1733): 1655-1664.
Kelly L, Barott K, Dinsdale E, Friedlander A, Nosrat B, Obura D, Sala E, Sandin S, Smith J, Vermeij M, Williams G, Willner D, and F Rohwer. (2012) Black reefs: iron-induced phase shifts on coral reefs. ISME Journal 6: 638-649.
Barott K, Rodriguez-Brito B, Janouškovec J, Marhaver K, Smith J, Keeling P, and F Rohwer. (2011) Microbial diversity associated with four functional groups of benthic reef algae and the reef-building coral Montastraea annularis. Environmental Microbiology 13(5): 1192-1204.