Ernesto Weil
University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, PR·Ecology & Evolution
Caribbean coral reefs have lost more than 60% of their living coral in many places within just 30–40 years. Disease is one of the main drivers.
- Fields
Ecology & Evolution
Microbiology & Immunology
Earth & Environmental Science
- Topics
coral reefs
coral disease
Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease
- Grants
- 1 known grant, last ended Oct 2026
What they work on
- Measure how the bacterial community (microbiome) in tissue and mucus of susceptible corals such as Orbicella faveolata changes in makeup and abundance before, during and after SCTLD infection, using molecular profiling.
- Compare susceptible corals (Meandrina meandrites, M. jacksoni, Orbicella faveolata) with resistant species (Montastraea cavernosa, Porites astreoides) to see how disease virulence, prevalence and mortality differ.
- Track SCTLD prevalence and coral death across infection phases and reef habitats using permanent transect surveys at La Parguera Natural Reserve, building on reef monitoring since 2003.
More about the research
Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease, or Scleractinian Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD), is a highly infectious and deadly disease first identified in Florida in 2014. It has been spreading across the Caribbean and killing important reef-building corals. Most research has started after corals are already infected. Little is known about how a coral's resident bacteria (its microbiome) change as the disease takes hold, or why some species die while others resist.
Why it matters
Coral reefs protect coastlines and support fisheries and tourism, and SCTLD threatens these benefits across the Caribbean. Knowing how coral microbiomes shift during infection, and why some species resist, could help reef managers and scientists in Puerto Rico and beyond. It could guide them in understanding disease spread and prioritizing vulnerable species.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Michael Henson
Northern Illinois University, IL·Ecology & Evolution
Identify environmental reservoirs of the DaScPc ciliate parasite through time-series surveys of urchins, macroalgae and corals in the U.S. Virgin Islands, alongside measurements of ocean conditions and host density.
Benjamin Glass
Boston University, MA·Ecology & Evolution
Profile temperature, oxygen and other abiotic conditions at a Bermuda coral reef to define realistic stress scenarios.
Robert Van Woesik
Florida Institute of Technology, FL·Ecology & Evolution
Quantify differences in coral recovery rates after thermal-stress events worldwide using spatio-temporal Bayesian models, which estimate how recovery varies across both place and time.
The school
University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez: 2 labs on PI Pages, $26M a year on research, 23 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
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