Curriculum Vitae

Coleman and Koenig Research Lab

Scholar Scientist
Director, FSU Coastal and Marine Laboratory
Pew Marine Conservation Fellow, 2001
Aldo Leopold Leadership Program Fellow, 2000
Ph.D., Florida State University, 1991

Research and Professional Interests:

My primary research interest is in the population ecology of reef fishes. This interest led me to explore the effects of fishing on the demography of exploited populations, particularly in its effects on spawning aggregations of fish in the grouper family (Serranidae). Groupers are protogynous hermaphrodites and so change sex from female to male over the course of their lifetime. What I found was that, for several species at least, fishing appears to lead to a loss of males, thus skewing the sex ratio in favor of females.

This research, plus my long-standing interest in conservation, led me to question how (or whether) such ecologically relevant information for an exploited species was incorporated into its management and reflected in governmental policy. What I have found over the years is that in many cases, the information is not properly transferred from scientists to policy makers and the general public. I have spent a number of years working to bridge this gap where it relates to management of marine resources. In this work, I have been fortunate to serve on a number of committees and councils whose charges involve conservation of marine resources. Among these are the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council (1996-1999), The National Marine Fisheries Service Ecosystem Management Advisory Panel (1997-1998), The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council's Ecosystem Scientific and Statistical Committee (2004-current), The Tortugas 2000 Marine Reserve Working Group (1998-1999), and the National Research Council (1998-2000, 2004).

I co-direct the Undergraduate Marine Biology Certificate Program. This program is geared towards students interested in pursuing careers in marine science. My lab provides research opportunities for some of these undergraduates, and for several graduate students. I also develop international symposia on topics of timely and high relevance to policy in marine fisheries through the Florida State University endowed William R. and Lenore Mote Eminent Scholar Chair in Fisheries Ecology. The five symposia held thus far have covered stock enhancement, marine reserves and essential fish habitat, biological reference points, ecosystem management, and the integration of fisheries and human ecology in fisheries management.  Proceedings from the symposia are published in the Bulletin of Marine Science.

Selected Publications:

Coleman, F. C., and S. Williams.  2002.  Overexploiting marine ecosystem engineers:  potential consequences for biodiversity.  Trends in Ecology and Evolution 17: 40-44.

Coleman, F. C., W. F. Figueira, J. S. Ueland, and L. B. Crowder.  2004.  The impact of U.S. recreational fisheries on marine fish populations.  Science 305: 1958-1960.

National Research Council. Sutinen, J., G. Boehlert, L. Botsford, F. Coleman, R. Ditton, T. Quinn, W. Rodgers, E. Schlager. 2004. Improving the Use of the “Best Scientific Information Available” Standard in Fisheries Management. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

Heppell, SS, SA Heppell, FC Coleman, and CC Koenig. 2006. Models to compare management options for a protogynous fish. Ecological Applications 16(1):238-249.

Koenig, CC, FC Coleman, AM Eklund, J. Schull, J. Ueland. 2007. Mangroves as essential nursery habitat for goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara). Bulletin of Marine Science 80(3):567-586.

Smith, MD, J Zhang, and FC Coleman. 2007. Structural modeling of marine reserves with Bayesian Estimation. Marine Resource Economics. Vol 22: 121-136.

Smith, MD, J. Zhang, and FC Coleman. 2008. Econometric modeling of fisheries with complex life histories: avoiding biological management failures. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 55:265-280.

Mann, DA, JV Locascio, FC Coleman, CC Koenig. 2008. Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara) Sound Production and Movement Patterns on Aggregation Sites. Endangered Species Research

Coleman, FC, RR Warner, AB Thistle (editors). 2008. Proceedings of the Sixth William R. and Lenore Mote International Symposium in Fisheries Ecology, November 14–16, 2006, Sarasota, Florida “Life History in Fisheries Ecology and Management” Bulletin of Marine Science 83(1):1-261.

Petes, Laura
Stallings, Chris

Graduate Students:

Ellis, Robert

Graduate Student Committees:

Austin, Todd (FSU, Oceanography)
Jue, Nathaniel (FSU, Biological Science)
Marschak, Anthony (Dauphin Island Sea Lab)
Nelson, James (FSU, Oceanography)
Simmons, Erin (FSU, Biological Science)

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