Associate Professor of Biology

Andia Chaves Fonnegra, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology
³Ô¹ÏÍø
Wilkes Honors College/Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
772-242-2251
andia.chaves@fau.edu

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The Laboratory of Integrative Marine and Coastal Ecology focuses on understanding the mechanisms that underlie changes in marine and coastal ecosystems by studying the structure and dynamics of organisms, populations and communities. Our focus are marine sponges, corals and algae.

We use an interdisciplinary approach in which we integrate reproductive biology, experimental ecology, population genetics and mathematical modeling. The goal of our research is to determine how organisms, ecological interactions and ecosystems are altered by anthropogenic activities and global impacts such as marine pollution and climate change, and aims to enhance management of ecosystems.

Grants and FellowshipsÌý

2026- 2027 .Ìý³Ô¹ÏÍø -ÌýVertically Integrated Project (VIP)
2025 – 2030. United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).Ìý
2023- 2028 . National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER AWARD.
2023-2025 .ÌýHarbor Branch Foundation- Specialty License PlateÌý- Aquaculture
2023. ³Ô¹ÏÍø - Wilkes Honors College Research Initiation Grant (RIG).
2022-2023. ÌýHarbor Branch Foundation- Specialty License PlateÌý- Aquaculture
2021 – 2025 . United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
2020-2021 .ÌýHarbor Branch Foundation- Specialty License Plate- Save Our Seas
2019 - 2021 . Early-Career Research Fellowship from theÌýGulf Research Program – National Academy of Sciences.
2011-2013 UNESCO-L’Oréal Fellowship for Young Women in Science
2010 NSU Chancellor´s Faculty Research and Development Grant
2006 Short Term Fellowship. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
2005 Link Foundation Grant Summer Fellowship. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
2002 SIGMA XI (The Scientific Research Society) Grant

Recent Publications

• Chaves-Fonnegra A, Lopez JV, Erpenbeck D et al. 2026. The chromosomal genome sequence of the blue bleeder, Aiolochroia crassa (Hyatt, 1875) (Verongiida: Aplysinidae) and its associated microbial metagenome sequences [version 1; peer review: 1 approved]. Wellcome Open Res 2026, 11:140
• Gochfeld DJ, Brandt ME, Smith TB, Ennis R, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Diaz MC, Olson JB. 2025. Site-specific Variability in Recovery of Caribbean Sponge Communities Following Two Category-5 Hurricanes. Coral Reefs Journal 44, 1719–1735.
• Segura-García I^#, Olson JB, Gochfeld DJ, Brandt ME, Chaves-Fonnegra A. 2024. Severe hurricanes increase recruitment and gene flow in the clonal sponge Aplysina cauliformis. Molecular Ecology Ìýmec.17307.Ìý
• Schreiber S*, Hanisak MD, Perricone CS, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Sullivan J, MacFarland M. 2023 Pseudo-nitzschia species, toxicity, and dynamics in the southern Indian River Lagoon, FL. Harmful Algae 126, 102437. ÌýÌýÌý
• MacKnight N, Cobleigh K, Lasseigne D, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Gutting A, Dimos B, Antoine J, Fuess L, Ricci C, Butler C, Muller E, Mydlarz L, Brandt M. 2021. Microbial dysbiosis reflect disease resistance in diverse coral species. Communications Biology 4, 679.
• Chaves-Fonnegra A, Panassiti B, Smith TB, Brown E, Clemens E, Sevier M, Brandt ME. 2021. Environmental and biological drivers of white plague disease on shallow and mesophotic coral reefs. Ecography.
• Olinger L*, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Enochs IC, Brandt ME. 2021. Three Competitors in Three Dimensions: Photogrammetry Reveals Rapid Overgrowth of Coral During Multispecies Competition with Sponges and Algae. Marine Ecology Progress Series 657:109-121.
• Gochfeld DJ., Olson JB., Chaves-Fonnegra A, Smith TB., Ennis RS. and Brandt ME. 2020. Impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria on Coral Reef Sponge Communities in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Estuaries and Coasts 43: 1235–1247.
• Easson C, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Thacker Robert W, Lopez JV. 2020. Host population genetics and biogeography structure the microbiome of the sponge Cliona delitrix. Ecology and Evolution.
• Brandt ME, Olinger L*, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Olson JB, Gochfeld D. 2019. Coral recruitment is impacted by the presence of a sponge community. Marine Biology 166 (29).
• ÌýChaves-Fonnegra A, Riegl B, Zea S, Lopez JV, Brandt ME, Smith TB, Gilliam DS. 2018. Bleaching events regulate shifts from coral to excavating sponges. Global Change Biology, 24(2):773-785.
• Halperin A*, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Gilliam DS. 2017. Coral-excavating sponge Cliona delitrix: current trends of space occupation on high latitude coral reefs. Hydrobiologia, 790(1):299-310.
• St. Gelais AT, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Kosmynin VN., Moulding AL, Gilliam DS. 2016. Siderastrea siderea spawning and oocyte resorption at high latitude. Invertebrate Reproduction and Development, 60 (3): 212-222.
• Torsten, T, Moitinho-Silva L, Lurgi M, Björk JR, Easson C, Astudillo C, Olson JB, Erwin PM, López-Legentil S, Luter H, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Costa R, Schupp P, Steindler L, Erpenbeck D, Gilbert J, Knight R, Ackerman G, Lopez JV, Taylor MW., Thacker RW., Montoya JM., Hentschel U, Webster NS. 2016. Global Sponge Microbiome: Diversity, structure and convergent evolution of the global sponge microbiome. Nature Communications 7, article number 11870.
• St. Gelais AT., Chaves-Fonnegra A, Brownlee AS, Kosmynin VN, Moulding AL, Gilliam DS. 2016. Fecundity and sexual maturity of the coral Siderastrea siderea at high latitude along the ³Ô¹ÏÍø Coral Reef Tract, USA. Invertebrate Biology: 135(1): 46-57.
• Chaves-Fonnegra A, Maldonado M, Lopez JV. 2016. Asynchronous reproduction and multi-spawning in the coral excavating sponge Cliona delitrix. Journal of the Marine Biological Association, UK 96(2): 515-528.
• Halperin A*, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Gilliam DS. 2016. Effect of excavating-sponge removal on coral growth. Journal of the Marine Biological Association, UK, 96(2), 473–479.
• Chaves-Fonnegra A, Feldheim KA, Secord J, Lopez JV. 2015. Population structure and dispersal of the coral-excavating sponge Cliona delitrix in the Greater Caribbean Sea. Molecular Ecology, 24(7): 1447–1466.
• Hill MS, Hill AL, Lopez JV, Perterson KJ, Pomponi S, Diaz MC, Thacker RW, Adamska M, Boury-Esnault N, Cárdenas P, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Danka E, De Laine B-O, Formica D, Hajdu E, Lobo-Hajdu G, Klontz S, Morrow CC, Patel J, Picton B, Pisani D, Pohlmann D, Redmond NE, Reed J, Richie S, Riesgo A, Rubin E, Russell Z, Rützler K, Sperling EA, di Stefano M, Tarver JE, Collins AG. 2013. Reconstruction of family-level phylogenetic relationships within Demospongiae (Porifera) using nuclear encoded housekeeping genes. Public Library of Science (PLOS) One, 8(1): e50437.
• Chaves-Fonnegra A, Zea S. 2011. Coral colonization by the encrusting excavating Caribbean sponge Cliona delitrix. Marine Ecology, 32: 162-173.
• Chaves-Fonnegra A, Castellanos L, Zea S, Duque C, Rodríguez J, Jiménez C. 2008. Clionapirrolidine A, a metabolite from the encrusting and excavating sponge Cliona tenuis that kills coral tissue upon contact. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 34(12): 1565-1574. 10.1007/s10886-008-9565-5
• Chaves-Fonnegra A, Zea S, Gómez ML. 2007. Abundance of the excavating sponge Cliona delitrix in relation to sewage discharge at San Andrés Island, SW Caribbean, Colombia. Boletín de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, 36(1): 63-78.Ìý
• Chaves-Fonnegra A, López-Victoria M, Parra-Velandia F, Zea S. 2005. Ecología química de las esponjas excavadoras Cliona aprica, C. caribbaea, C. delitrix y C. tenuis. Boletín de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, 34: 39-59.Ìý
• Chaves-Fonnegra A, Fiorenzano M, Pantaleón-Lizarazú AM, Rodríguez-Gacha DF, Franco-Herrera A, López-Victoria M. 2005. Aves de un manglar en el PNN Tayrona, Caribe colombiano. Boletín SAO, XV (1): 3-12.
• Zea S, López-Victoria M, Chaves A. 2003. Las Clionas: musas díscolas del arrecife. Colombia: Ciencia y Tecnología, 21 (3): 42-47.Ìý

Published Book Chapters

• Zea S, López-Victoria M, Weil E, Chaves-Fonnegra A, Márquez JC., Duque C, Castellanos L. 2006. Socavado esquelético y mortalidad coralina por esponjas excavadoras incrustantes en San Andrés e Islas del Rosario: 93-95 In: INVEMAR. Informe del estado de los ambientes marinos y costeros en Colombia. 2005. Serie Publicaciones Periódicas INVEMAR 8, Santa Marta, 360 p.