During the past 20 years, marine chemical ecology has emerged as a respected field of study providing a better understanding of the role natural products play in organisms and their environments. Ample data in this book advocates the conservation of marine environments for future drug discovery efforts while sustaining their overall health. Marine chemical ecology has expanded to include research in the areas of predator-prey interactions, marine microbial chemical ecology, and seasonal and geographical distribution of marine natural products.
About the Author: Melany P. Puglisi was born in the United States and obtained her undergraduate training at Southampton College. She completed her graduate training in biology and pharmacognosy at the University of Guam and the University of Mississippi, respectively. After two years of postdoctoral studies at Scripps Institution of Oceanography she joined the new pharmacy program at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine as a faculty member in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. After a short time, she left Erie to pursue research efforts at the Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce, Florida followed by Shannon Point Marine Laboratory in Anacortes, Washington where she established a research program in marine microbial chemical ecology. In 2008, she joined Chicago State University as a founding faculty member in the College of Pharmacy. Chicago State University is a small teaching institution that provides opportunities to underserved populations. She has received recognition from the student pharmacists for her teaching as Teacher of the Year and Faculty Preceptor of the Year. She involves student pharmacists in Capstone research projects in marine natural products and chemical ecology. In 2016, she joined the Editorial Board of the Journal of Natural Products as the Book Review Editor. She serves a member of the Executive Committee of the American Society of Pharmacognosy and as Secretary to the ASP Foundation. Her research interests involve the chemical interactions between benthic marine organisms and microorganisms. She has numerous publications in algal, invertebrate and microbial chemical ecology.
Mikel A. Becerro is a tenured scientist at the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). Born and raised in the Basque Country, he moved to the Canary Islands to study Marine Biology and then to Catalonia to earn, in 1994, his PhD in Marine Sciences from the University of Barcelona. Dr. Becerro is based at the Center for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), where he is the current deputy director. Dr. Becerro is the leader of the BITES lab, a small research group focused on Biodiversity, Interactions, Threats, and Ecosystem Shifts. The name of his research lab clearly reflects Dr. Becerro's research activities and interests. As an ecologist, Dr. Becerro has expanded his approaches from understanding specific species interactions and their role in community ecology to broader social-ecological systems and the current biodiversity crisis. Over the years, he has received numerous awards from the Basque, Catalan, and Spanish governments that have opened doors for him to collaborate with world leaders in marine chemical ecology including Dr. Paul Scheuer at the University of Hawai'i Chemistry Department, Dr. Valerie Paul at the University of Guam Marine Laboratory, and Dr. Guido Cimino at the Italian Research Council Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry. In 2002, he was awarded a prestigious Marie Curie Postdoctoral fellowship to conduct research with Dr. Bernard Banaigs at the University of Perpignan Centre of Phytopharmacy. Dr. Becerro was a visiting scientist at the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce. His research activities include numerous publications in international journals and communications in national and international conferences, which has led Dr. Becerro to be included in the list of the best Spanish researchers in Marine Biology. Dr. Becerro participates in several master and doctorate programs, including the Erasmus Mundus MSc in Marine Environment and Resources led by the University of the Basque Country, and has supervised many master and PhD students. An active science communicator, Dr. Becerro has participated in numerous forums such as Tuesdays at the Oceanographic at the Oceanographic Valencia or the Ciudad Ciencia program promoted by the La Caixa Social Work and the CSIC, among others. Mikel also has been invited to be an editor of prestigious journals of marine biology like Advances in Marine Biology and Hydrobiologia.
