tfrank3@hboi.fau.edu
772-465-2400 ext. 311
Title
Associate Research Professor
Education
- Postdoctoral Fellowship Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
1992-1994 - NIH Postdoctoral Traineeship Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon
1989-1991 - Postdoctoral Fellowship University of Connecticut Medical Center
1988 - 1989 - Ph. D. University of California, Santa Barbara 1987
- M.A. University of California, Santa Barbara 1984
- B.S. California State University, Long Beach 1980
Career
- 2008 – present Associate Research Professor, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University
- 2007 – present Adjunct Scientist, Ocean Research and Conservation, Inc.
- 2000 Affiliate Associate Professor, Florida Atlantic University
- 1998 Associate Scientist, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
- 1998 Adjunct Professor, Florida Institute of Technology
- 1994 Assistant Scientist, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Detailed CV
Research Interests
- adaptations to dim light environments in pelagic and benthic organisms
- zooplankton ecology, with emphasis on effects of downwelling light on distribution patterns;
- vertical migrations of macrozooplankton and micronekton
Research Projects
- Determining if there are differences in photoreceptor physiology between different life history stages of ontogenetically migrating crustaceans, which live in vastly different light environments during their life histories – funded by the National Science Foundation
- Studies on optical and structural adaptations in crustaceans to different light environments – funded by the National Science Foundation
- Studies on the visual pigment genes associated with the visual pigments in different life history stages of ontogenetically migrating crustaceans – funded by National Science Foundation
- Studies on the visual physiology and visual environment of benthic deep-sea crustaceans, many species of which have extremely large eyes, yet live well below the level at which any downwelling light remains – funded by NOAA Department of Ocean Exploration
- Correlating behavior with visual physiology in shallow water crustaceans
Discoveries/Results
- developed techniques for collecting deep-sea species without blinding them
- discovered UV sensitivity in deep-sea pelagic and benthic crustaceans
- conducted first electrophysiological recordings ever made from intact photoreceptors of a deep-sea benthic crab
- conducted first ever electrophysiological recordings from photoreceptors of a copepod
- discovered that some deep-sea species may be following an isolume during their vertical migrations, a hypothesis that had been discounted in recent years
Links to Research Cruise Webpages
