Research Professor

Rudman Hall, Room 202
(603) 862-3442
Email: mpl@unh.edu

 Educational Background

Ph. D., University of Maine, Zoology, 1989
M.S., University of New Hampshire, Microbiology, 1985
B.A., University of New Hampshire, Microbiology, Minor: Zoology, 1983
A.S. George Washington University, Medical Laboratory Science, 1977

Courses Taught

Biological Oceanography, Physiological Ecology, Marine Biology, Marine Microbiology, General Microbiology, Immunology, Biology and Ecology of Coral Reefs

Current Research Interests

My principal focus involve understanding how taxonomically diverse marine organisms respond physiologically to changes in their environment.  In particular I'm interested in how organismal physiology can influence the ecology of marine organisms.  As a physiological ecologist my students and I answer these types of questions by utilizing field and laboratory experiments, as well as a wide range of techniques from molecular biology to in situ measurements.  Currently my research encompasses four major areas;

1) Biochemistry and molecular genetics of oxidative stress in marine organisms associated with exposure to ultraviolet radiation, elevated temperatures, or hyperoxic conditions. 

2) Physiological ecology of marine invertebrates and phytoplankton, physiological responses to changes in the environment, bacterial- and algal-invertebrate symbioses, and the trophic biology of suspension-feeding invertebrates.

3) Ecology and photobiology of mesophotic coral reefs.

4) Underwater technology, use of technical diving for scientific research. 

Selected Publications

Lesser, M. P., Carleton, K. L., Böttger, S. A., Barry, T. M. and C. W. Walker.  Sea Urchin Tube Feet are Photosensory Organs that Express a Rhabdomeric-like opsin and PAX6. Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0336, 2011.

Lesser, M. P., and M. Slattery.  Invasive Lionfish Causes a Phase Shift to Algal Dominated Communities at Mesophotic Depths on a Bahamian Coral Reef.  Biological Invasions, 13: 1855-1868, 2011.

Lesser, M. P.  Coral Bleaching: Causes and Mechanisms.  In: Coral Reefs: An Ecosystem in Transition, Dubinsky, Z. and N. Stambler (eds.), Springer, pp. 405-420, 2011.

Warner, M. E., Lesser, M. P., and P. Ralph.  Chlorophyll Fluorescence in Reef Building Corals.  In: Chlorophyll a Fluorescence in Aquatic Sciences: Methods and Applications, Suggett, D., Prasil, O. and M. Borowitzka (eds.), Springer, pp. 209-222, 2010.

Fiore, C. L., Jarett, J. K., Olson, N. D., and M. P. Lesser.  Nitrogen Fixation and Nitrogen Transformations in Marine Symbioses. Trends in Microbiology, 18: 455-463, 2010.

Lesser, M. P., M. Bailey, D. Merselis, and J. R. Morrison. Physiological response of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis to differences in food and temperature in the Gulf of Maine. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A, 156: 541-551, 2010.

Lesser, M. P., M. Slattery, M. Stat, M. Ojimi, R. Gates, and A. Grottoli. Photoacclimatization by the Coral Montastraea cavernosa in the Mesophotic Zone: Light, Food, and Genetics.  Ecology, 91: 990-1003, 2010.

Lesser, M. P. Survivorship, Oxidative Stress, and DNA Damage of Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) Embryos and Larvae Exposed to Ultraviolet Radiation (290-400 nm) in the Gulf of Maine.  Photochemistry and Photobiology, 86: 382-388, 2010.

Banaszak, A. T. and M. P. Lesser.  Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation on Coral Reef Organisms.  Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, 8: 1276-1294, 2009.

Lesser, M. P. Slattery, M., and J. J. Leichter.  Ecology of Mesophotic Coral Reefs.  Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 375: 1-8, 2009.

Blakeslee, A. M. H., Byers, J. E., and M. P. Lesser. Resolving cryptogenic histories using host and parasite molecular genetics.  Molecular Ecology, 17: 3684-3696, 2008.

Lesser, M. P., Falcón, L. I. Rodríguez-Román, A., Enríquez, S., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., and R. Iglesias-Prieto. Nitrogen Fixation by Symbiotic Cyanobacteria Provides a Source of Nitrogen for the Scleractinian Coral, Montastraea cavernosa. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 346:143-152, 2007.

Lesser, M. P. Coral Reefs Bleaching and Global Climate Change: Can Corals Survive the Next Century? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104: 5259-5260, 2007.

Bou-Abdallah, F., Chasteen, N. D., and M. P. Lesser. Quenching of Superoxide Radicals by Green Fluorescent Protein. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (General Subjects) 1760:1690-1695, 2006.

Lesser, M. P. Oxidative Stress in Marine Environments: Biochemistry and Physiological Ecology. Annual Reviews of Physiology, 68: 253-278, 2006.

Lesser, M. P., Mazel, C. M., Gorbunov, M. Y., and P. G. Falkowski. Discovery of Symbiotic Nitrogen-Fixing Cyanobacteria in Corals. Science, 305: 997-1000, 2004.

Lesser, M. P. Experimental Coral Reef Biology. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 300: 217-252, 2004.

Lesser, M. P., P. J. Neale, and J. J. Cullen. Acclimation of Antarctic Phytoplankton to Ultraviolet Radiation: UV Absorbing Compounds and Carbon Fixation. Molecular Marine Biology and Biotechnology, 5: 314-325, 1996.

Lesser, M. P. Exposure of Symbiotic Dinoflagellates To Elevated Temperatures and Ultraviolet Radiation Causes Oxidative Stress and Inhibits Photosynthesis. Limnology and Oceanography, 41: 271-283, 1996.

Cullen, J. J, P. J. Neale, and M. P. Lesser. Biological Weighting Function for the Inhibition of Phytoplankton Photosynthesis by Ultraviolet Radiation. Science, 258:646-650, 1992.

Lesser, M. P. and R. P. Blakemore. Description of a Novel Symbiotic Bacterium from the Brittlestar, Amphipholis squamata. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 56:2436-2440, 1990.

Comments and questions should be directed to Dr. Michael Lesser
Last updated: 14 Decemer 2009