School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences College of Science

Higher-Education

• 1989 B.S. Marine Biology, Texas A&M University-Galveston
• 1993 M.S. Biology, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
• Thesis Title: Effects of the December 1989 Freeze on Seagrasses and Associated Bivalve Mollusca in Laguna Madre (J.W. Tunnell, Jr., Thesis Supervisor
• 1999 Ph.D. Quantitative Biology, The University of Texas at Arlington
• Dissertation Title: The Environmental Physiology of the Nonindigenous Marine Mussel, Perna perna (Linnaeus 1758) in the Western Gulf of Mexico (R.F. McMahon, Dissertation Supervisor)

Research Overview

Marine / Estuarine Ecologist and Quantitative Biologist. Dr. Hicks specializes in the biology, ecology, physiological ecology and environmental biology of estuarine and marine invertebrates, particularly mollusks and corals. Additionally, he has expertise in experimental design and analyses of biological data. Current research projects range from the restoration of Bahia Grande in the lower Rio Grande Valley, to evaluation of beach management practices on South Padre Island, to monitoring invertebrate and fish community dynamics on natural and artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. He is the Director of the School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences which offers undergraduate degrees in Environmental Science and Marine Biology.

Publications

• Catheline Froehlich, Andres Garcia, Carlos Cintra-Buenrostro, David Hicks, and Richard Kline.
  Structural differences alter residency and depth activity of Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) at two artificial reefs. Fisheries Research. 242, (June 2021): 106043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2021.106043
• Erin Easton and David Hicks. Complete mitochondrial genome of Carijoa riisei (Octocorallia:
  Alcyonacea: Stolonifera: Clavulariidae). Mitochondrial DNA Part B: Resources . 5, (April (2nd
  Quarter/Spring) 2020): 1826–1827. https://doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2020.1750998
• Nicole Figueroa, Diego Figueroa, and David Hicks. Phylogeography of Acartia tonsa
  (Calanoida:Copepoda) and phylogenetic reconstruction of the genus Acartia. Marine Biodiversity. (February 2020) https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-020-01043-1
• Samantha Silvestri, Diego Figueroa, Nicole Figueroa, and David Hicks. Mitogenomic phylogenetic analyses of Leptogorgia virgulata and Leptogorgia hebes (Anthozoa: Octocorallia) from the Gulf of Mexico provides insight on Gorgoniidae divergence between Pacific and Atlantic lineages.. Ecology and Evolution. (November 2019) https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5847
• Diego Figueroa, David Hicks, Nicole Figueroa, The complete mitochondrial genome of
  Tanacetipathes thamnea Warner, 1981 (Antipatharia: Myriopathidae). Mitochondrial DNA Part B. (November 2019) https://doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2019.1692701
• Diego Figueroa, Amelia McClure, Nicole Figueroa, and David Hicks. Hiding in plain sight: invasive
  coral Tubastraea tagusensis (Scleractinia:Hexacorallia) in the Gulf of Mexico. Coral Reefs. 38, no. 3 (June 2019): 395-403. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-019-01807-7
• Erin Easton and David Hicks. Complete mitochondrial genome of Callogorgia cf. gracilis
  (Octocorallia: Calcaxonia: Primnoidae).. Mitochondrial DNA Part B: Resources. 4, no. 1 (January (1st Quarter/Winter) 2019): 361-362. doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2018.1544042
• Rebekah Rodriguez, Erin Easton, Thomas Shirley, John Tunnell, and David Hicks. Preliminary
  multivariate comparison of coral assembles on carbonate banks in the western Gulf of Mexico. . Gulf and Caribbean Research. 29, no. 1 (2018): 23-33. https://doi.org/10.18785/gcr.2901.11
• Cooksey, M., and D.W. Hicks. in press. Characterization of a South Texas mesophotic reef epibenthic community. Proceedings of the 68th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, November 9 - 13, 2015, Panama City, Panama.
• Jordan, L., D. Hicks, R. Kline, and M. Cooksey. in press. Mesophotic reef fish communities of two South Texas relic coral-algal banks: North Hospital and Hospital. Proceedings of the 68th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, November 9 - 13, 2015, Panama City, Panama.
• Hicks, D., C.E. Cintra-Buenrostro, R. Kline, D. Shively, and B. Shipley. in press. Artificial Reef Fish Survey Methods: Counts vs. Log-Categories Yield Different Diversity Estimates. Proceedings of the 68th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, November 9 - 13, 2015, Panama City, Panama.
• Lerma, L., and D.W. Hicks. 2015. The Effects of a Red Tide, Karenia brevis Episode on the Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities of South Padre Island, Texas. Shore and Beach (83) 4: 1-7. https://scholarworks.utrgv.edu/leg_etd/30
• Hicks, D.W., L. Lerma, J. Le, T.C. Shirley, J.W. Tunnell, R. Rodriguez and A. Garcia. 2014. Assessing fish communities of six remnant coralgal reefs off the South Texas coast. Proceedings of the 66th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute, November 4 - 8, 2013, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA. Pp: 244-254.

Present Courses

• Invertebrate Biology
• Coral Reef Ecology
• Coastal Ecology
• Biostatistics
• Marine Zoology
• Statistical Ecology
• Bioenergetics