Medina Lab

Our former lab members  Joe and Styles, and Mónica are coauthors in the article entitled “Coral-associated bacteria demonstrate phylosymbiosis and cophylogeny”, which was published last week in Nature Communications. The paper highlights the vast diversity of bacteria and archaeal communities in different coral compartments; and their coevolution with the host in a wide array of […]

A new article about Varadero is out! However, this one is not focused on the science we study but something else: “Saving Atlantis”, the documentary about Varadero reef, has been recently featured locally in Colombia. This is the story of that experience and we invite you to check it out! 

Recently, our study reef, Varadero reef in Cartagena, Colombia was featured in the Penn State News. The note, with interviews and background info highlights the importance of this reef. We invite you to read the article about the Buried Treasure!

Aki had a successful PhD dissertation defense yesterday! We celebrated him with a Cassiopea-inspired cake and two crowded parties. Congratulations, Dr. Ohdera!

Dr. Allison Kerwin recently joined us in the Medina Lab in a postdoctoral researcher position. Allison got her PhD working under Spencer Nyholm’s lab at the University of Connecticut studying the ANG reproductive system symbiosis in Hawaiian bobtail squid. Allison will be using her expertise in next generation sequencing analysis and microscopy in the Global Coral […]

Our lab members Sofia and Ana joined fellow grad student Kathryn Stankiewicz in an outreach activity the group designed this fall called “Tangled up in the food web”. This activity aims to teach children how organisms interact in a toy marine trophic pyramid over a succession of beneficial and/or detrimental situations. The group was among several […]

Our former postdoc Joseph Pollock has transitioned into a job as the Director of Coral Strategy for the Caribbean Division of The Nature Conservancy.

This past weekend Aki, Viridiana, Ana, Gabrielle and Monica visited the Three Rivers Evolution Event that was hosted by the University of Pittsburgh.

The Penn State Postdoctoral Society has awarded our current postdoc, Joe Pollock, the 2017 Outstanding Postdoc Award.  Joe will receive this award in at the 10th Annual Postdoc Research Exhibition on Friday, September 22, 2017.

This past weekend we had a very successful outreach event with the help of our visiting interns at the Discovery Space, which is a local children’s museum. We had a total of 45 people come learn about coral reefs by touching samples, playing games, and having fun! (Photo credits: Colin Howe)