Vassar College Biology : Jodi Schwarz

Jodi Schwarz

Assistant Professor of Biology

Olmsted Hall 313
Phone: 845-437-5266
Fax: 845-437-7315

B.A. 1989 Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH
B.A. 1994 University of California, Santa Cruz, CA
M. S. 1996 University of California, Santa Cruz, CA
Ph. D. 2002 Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

Research Interests

I am interested in coral symbiosis, which is arguably one of the most powerful collaborations in the biological world. The beautiful and biodiverse coral reef ecosystem is built upon the back of symbiotic interactions between corals and photosynthetic algal symbionts. The symbionts produce food for the coral and stimulate the production of coral skeleton. The cumulative effect is profound: corals grow at rates sufficient to form both the actual rock and the ecological foundation to support the hundreds of species that comprise coral reef ecosystems.

How is this symbiosis regulated? How do host and symbiont co-exist in a stable state? Currently I am working to identify "transcriptomes" of the symbiosis using DNA microarrays to identify genes that are induced or repressed during different stages of symbiosis or pathogenesis. Since coming to Vassar, my students have expressed great interest in studying how different environmental stressors produce a coral bleaching response. We do this work in the lab at Vassar, as well as at the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences.

Teaching Interests

My teaching goals include working with students to become integrative thinkers of biology. This includes not only integration between molecular to evolutionary scales, but also integration of biological and computational knowledge. Currently my primary courses include BIOL106: Introduction to Biological Investigation, BIOL244: Genomics, and BIOL353: Bioinformatics (which I teach with Marc Smith in Computer Science). In Spring 2010, I will also be teaching a senior seminar on the topic of Symbiosis, as well as a field work course on Coral Reefs, with Brian McAdoo (Earth Sciences and Geography).

Selected Publications

Schwarz, J.A. 2008. Understanding the intracellular niche in cnidarian-Symbiodinium symbioses: parasites lead the way. Vie et Millieu: Life and the Environment. 58 (2): 141-151.
Schwarz JA, Brokstein PB, Voolstra CR, Terry AY, Miller DJ, Szmant AM, Coffroth MA, Medina M. 2008. Coral Life History and Symbiosis: functional genomic resources for two reef building Caribbean corals, Acropora palmata and Montastraea faveolata. BMC Genomics, 9:97. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/9/97
DeSalvo, M.,Voolstra, C., Sunagawa, S., Schwarz, JA.., Coffroth, M.A., Szmant, A., Stillman, J.H., Medina, M. 2008. Differential gene expression during thermal stress and bleaching in the Caribbean coral Montastraea faveolata. Molecular Ecology 17: 3952-3971.
Schwarz, J.A., Fouts, A.E., Cummings, C., Ferguson, D. and J.C. Boothroyd. 2005. A novel rhoptry protein in Toxoplasma gondii bradyzoites and merozoites. Mol Biochem Parasitol. 44:159-66.
Schwarz, J.A. and V.M. Weis. 2003. Localization of a symbiosis-related protein, sym32, in the Anthopleura elegantissima-Symbiodinium muscatinei association. Biological Bulletin 205: 339-350.
Schwarz, J.A., D.A. Krupp, and V.M. Weis. 1999. Late larval development and onset of symbiosis in the scleractinian coral Fungia scutaria. Biological Bulletin 196: 70-79.