Diego Figueroa

DIEGO FIGUEROA

Assistant Professor, SEEMS

(956) 882-5982
diego.figueroa@utrgv.edu

Department: SEEMS
Office: BLHSB 1.826
Location: Brownsville

UTRGV Faculty Profile

Curriculum Vitae

 

 

Areas of Interest

  • Oceanography
  • Biodiversity community structure and phylogeny of zooplankton and deep-sea corals
  • Copepod taxonomy.

Higher-Education

  • Ph.D. Biological Oceanography, Oregon State University
  • M.S. Biological Oceanography, Oregon State University
  • B.S. Marine Biology, University of Alaska Southeast

Research Overview

 

Our research focuses on how oceanographic processes, anthropogenic effects and climate change impact the biodiversity, community structure and connectivity of marine habitats. Our specialty is working with zooplankton in coastal and open ocean environments and with corals in the deep-sea. We also study the philogeography, colonization and speciation of organisms in anchialine habitats including marine caves. We use multivariate tools for community analyses and a wide range of molecular methods, including next generation sequencing, to study ecological and evolutionary processes in marine environments.

Publications

 

  • Diego Figueroa. Environmental forcing on zooplankton distribution in the coastal waters of the
    Galapagos Islands: spatial and seasonal patterns in the copepod community structure. Marine
    Ecology Progress Series. 661, (2021): 49-69. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps13617
  • Joan Cartes and Diego Figueroa. Deep Sea Isopods from the western Mediterranean: distribution and habitat. Progress in Oceanography. 188, (2020) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2020.102415
  • 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
  • Hilary Frandsen, Diego Figueroa, and Jeff George. Mitochondrial genomes and genetic structure of the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii). Ecology and Evolution. (December 2019) https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5891
  • Diego Figueroa, Joan Cartes, and Nicole Figueroa. Insights to the genetic structure of Calanus
    helgolandicus (Calanoida: Copepoda) from deep-sea specimens in the Balearic Sea. Crustacean
    Research. (November 2019) https://doi.org/10.18353/crustacea.48.0_119
  • 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
  • Figueroa, D. F. and A. Baco. 2015. Octocoral mitochondrial genomes provide insights into the phylogenetic history of gene order rearrangements, order reversals, and Cnidarian phylogenetics. Genome Biology and Evolution 7(1), 391-409. https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evu286
  • Figueroa, D. F., and A. Baco. 2014. Complete mitochondrial genomes elucidate phylogenetic relationships of the deep-sea octocoral families Coralliidae and Paragorgiidae. Deep Sea Research II 99, 83-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2013.06.001
  • Figueroa, D. F. 2011. Two new calanoid copepods from the Galapagos Islands: Pseudocyclops juanibali n. sp. and Pseudocyclops saenzi n. sp. Journal of Crustacean Biology 31(4), 725-741. https://doi.org/10.1651/10-3374.1
  • Figueroa, D. F. 2011. Phylogenetic analysis of Ridgewayia (Copepoda: Calanoida) from the Galapagos and of a new species from the Florida Keys with a reevaluation of the phylogeny of the Calanoida. Journal of Crustacean Biology 31(1), 153-165. https://doi.org/10.1651/10-3341.1

Present Courses

  • BIOL 2310 - Marine Processes & Ecosystem Dynamics
  • BIOL 3320 - Marine Biogeochemistry
  • BIOL 3430 - Marine Biology Field Methods
  • BIOL 4301 - Evolution