Research Team

Dr. Catharina Alves-de-Souza
ARC Director
desouzac@uncw.edu

I finished my Ph.D. on Ecology in 2011, through a thesis under co-supervision between the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (France) and the Universidad Austral de Chile (Chile). After that, I spent five years working for the Universidade Federal de Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), first as a Postdoc and then as a Visiting Professor. I moved to the U.S. in 2016 when I was hired as a Research Professor by UNCW to oversee ARC. My research is focused on the taxonomy and ecology of marine phytoplankton with a special focus on the biotic control of the Harmful Algal Blooms by unicellular eukaryote parasites.

Dr. Carmelo Tomas
Emeritus Professor
tomasc@uncw.edu

As Emeritus Professor I continue to be active in the ARC with ongoing projects, continue with writing journal papers and book chapters as well as teaching in workshops aimed at identifying harmful algal species. I have also made presentations at national and international meetings on our research on new harmful species.

Charles Wingert
ARC Curator/Lab Manager
wingertc@uncw.edu

As the ARC curator and manager, I am responsible for the day-to-day operation of the laboratory, which includes overseeing and maintaining the viability of the collection and isolating new species or strains whenever possible. Culturing phytoplankton is one of my specialties and is something I thoroughly enjoy. Currently, my research interests include taxonomy and how the ecophysiology of harmful algal blooms may be affected by climate change (i.e. ocean acidification and warming). My favorite phytoplankton genus is Dinophysis.

Robert York
Mass Culture Specialist
yorkra@uncw.edu

B.S. in Marine Biology and Chemistry from UNCW in 2001 and M.S. in Biology from UNCW in 2005. My main duties in the ARC consist of mass culture (10L-100L) of unique microalgal species. I identify species using HPLC pigment profiles, SEM, and molecular data. I also teach these techniques to student and staff. My research interests are focused in optimizing growth rate of mass cultures, algal bloom genetics, and secondary pigment analyses.

Aaron Cooke
Lab Technician
cookea@uncw.edu

Research technician funded off of an NSF grant here in the Algal Resources Collection and I have been working within the collection since August 2017. I recently graduated from UNCW with a BS in Marine Biology. I loved my time at the university as an undergraduate and have been very fortunate in continuing to gain research experience within the UNCW Crest Research Park. My research interests lie in toxins and the usage of biotechnology to increase algal growth.