Dr. Barbara Ribeiro

Postdoctoral Fellows

Postdoctoral Fellow

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Biography

Dr. Ribeiro is a marine biologist who has been working with sponge ecology, microbiology and climate change effects (ocean warming and acidification) for the past 10 years. As a postdoctoral fellow at KAUST, her main research interest is to understand how coral-tailored probiotics can improve the growth and resistance of the coral-host under ocean warming scenarios.

Research Interests

Coral Restoration, Climate change, Ocean acidification , Sponge ecology, Microbial ecology, Marine probiotics

Selected Publications

  • Calcareous songes can synthesize their skeleton under short-term ocean acidification
    Ribeiro B., Lima C., Pereira S., Peixoto R., & Klautau M. (under revision by Scientific Reports)
  • Uncovering the microbial diversity of two exotic calcareous sponges
    Ribeiro B., Padua A., de Oliveira B., Puccinelli G., da Costa Fernandes F., Laport M. & Klautau M. (2022) Microbial Ecology (doi.org/10.1007/s00248-022-01980-3)

  • Assessing skeleton and microbiome responses of a calcareous sponge under thermal and pH stresses
    Ribeiro B., Padua A., Barno A., Villela H., Duarte G., Ross, A., da Costa Fernandes F., Peixoto
    R. & Klautau M. (2021) ICES Journal of Marine Science (doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsaa231)

  • Rhodoliths holobionts in a changing ocean: host-microbes interactions mediate coralline algae resilience under ocean acidification
    Cavalcanti G.S., Shukla P., Morris M., Ribeiro B., Foley M., Doane M.P., Thompson C.C.,
    Edwards M.S., Dinsdale E. & Thompson F.L. (2018) BMC Genomics (doi.org/10.1186/s12864-018-5064-4)

  • Exploitation of micro refuges and epibiosis: survival strategies of a calcareous sponge
    Ribeiro B., Padua A., Paiva P.C., Custódio M.R. & Klautau M. (2018) Journal of the Marine Biological
    Association of the United Kingdom (doi.org/10.1017/S002531541600151X)

Education

  • 2018 - 2022: Ph.D., Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, UFRJ, Brazil

  • 2016 - 2018: M.Sc., Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, UFRJ, Brazil

  • 2011 - 2016: B.Sc., Biological Sciences with emphasis in Marine Biology, UFRJ, Brazil 

Professional Profile

  • 2023 - Present: Postdoctoral fellow, KAUST, Saudi Arabia

  • 2022 (6 months): Ph.D. visiting student, KAUST, Saudi Arabia

  • 2014 (6 months): Undergraduate visiting student, San Diego State University (SDSU), USA

  • 2012 - 2022: Academic researcher, Porifera Lab, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil

Awards

  • Award for 3th best oral presentation, 11th World Sponge Conference, Leiden, The Netherlands (2022)

  • Naturalis Diversity Travel Award for the 11th World Sponge Conference, Leiden, The Netherlands (2022)

  • Scholarship as a Ph.D. visiting student at KAUST provided by Improvement of Higher-Level Personnel Coordination (CAPES) program (2021)

  • Honorable mention in the third Ph.D. seminar of the Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program – UFRJ, Brazil (2021)

  • Idea Wild Grant for the project “Calcareous sponges in a changing ocean: responses and adaptive mechanisms” (2020)

  • PADI Foundation Grant for the project “Assessing the vulnerability of calcareous sponges under climate change in different life stages and their possible adaptive mechanisms” (2019)

  • Award for best oral presentation in ecology, 10th World Sponge Conference, Galway, Ireland (2017)
  • Honorable mention in the second master seminar of the Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Program – UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2017)

  • Scholarship as an Undergraduate visiting student at SDSU provided by Improvement of Higher-Level Personnel Coordination (CAPES) program (2014) 

Research Interests Keywords

Coral Restoration Climate change Ocean acidification Sponge ecology Microbial ecology Marine probiotics