Associate Professor
Department of Biology

B.A. Wellesley College 1994
M.S. University of Georgia 1997
Ph.D. University of Georgia 2003

Office: Strong Hall, room 224
Phone: (407) 691-1075
E-Mail: kpsutherland@rollins.edu

Courses Taught:

• General Biology
• Ecology
• Marine Biology
• Ecological Basis of Environmental Issues
• Introduction to Marine Science
• Biology Journal Club

Professional Interests:
I am a coral reef ecologist and a coral disease microbiologist.   I specialize in both field identification and laboratory investigation of coral disease. As a field biologist, I monitor reefs for change in coral cover over time and I assess coral health through quantification of coral disease prevalence.  In the laboratory I am investigating the prevalence and origin of the pathogen, the bacterium Serratia marcescens, that causes the white pox disease of the Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata. White pox disease has contributed to the decimation of this coral species in Florida,with losses averaging 87% since 1996. I am also interested in the identification of other coral disease pathogens and the mechanisms of pathogenesis of these pathogens.