Educational Background

2010       Ph.D. Zoology. University of Hawaii, Honolulu HI.

2003       B.A. Biology. University of Hawaii, Hilo HI.

Professional Experience

Gulf Islands Research and Education Center Coordinator, University of West Florida (2013-2018) 

NIH Postdoctoral Research and Teaching Fellow, University of Arizona (2010-2012)

Current Courses

MAR4411/5031: Conservation Genetics

BIO1010: Biological Disovery I (Introduction to Cell and Molecular Biology)

Selected Publications

(* undergraduate student coauthor, ‡ cover article)

1. Kumar, G., Farrell, E., Reaume, A., Eble, J., Gaither, M. (2021). One size does not fit all: Tuning eDNA protocols for high and low turbidity water sampling. Environmental DNA. http://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.235 ‡
2. Eble, J.A., J. DiBattista, T. Daly-Engel, M. Gaither (2020). Invited Review: Marine eDNA approaches, applications, and challenges. Advances in Marine Biology 86:141-169. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.amb.2020.01.001
3. Kumar, G., J.A. Eble, M.R. Gaither (2020). Invited Technical Review: A practical guide to sample preservation and pre-PCR processing of aquatic environmental DNA. Molecular Ecology Resources 20:29-39. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13107
4. Crandall, E., M.R. Gaither, C. Bird, et al. (2019). The molecular biogeography of the Indo-Pacific: Testing hypotheses with multispecies patterns. Global Ecology and Biogeography. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12905
5. Eble, J.A., J. Pecore (2019). “Invasive aliens”: A collaborative citizen science activity using DNA barcoding to investigate concepts in ecology and molecular biology. American Biology Teacher 81(3): 69-174. DOI: 10.1525/abt.2019.81.3.169
6. Crandall, E., R. Toonen, K. Selkoe et al. (2019). A coalescent sampler successfully detects biologically meaningful population structure overlooked by F-statistics. Evolutionary Applications. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/eva.12712
7. Coleman, R., J.A. Eble, J.D. DiBattista, L.A. Rocha, J.E. Randall, M.L. Berumen, B.W. Bowen (2016). Regal phylogeography: range-wide survey of the marine angelfish Pygoplites diacanthus reveals evolutionary partitions between the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 100:243-253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2016.04.005
8. Selkoe, K., E. Treml, J. Wren, O. Gaggiotti, M. Donovan et al. (2016). The DNA of coral reef biodiversity: predicting and protecting genetic diversity of reef assemblages. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B 283: 20160354. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0354
9. Andrews, A.H., E.E. Demartini, J.A. Eble, D.C. Lou, B.M. Taylor, R. Humphreys (2016) Age and growth of bluespine unicornfish (Naso unicornis): a half-century lifespan for a keystone browser, with a novel approach to bomb radiocarbon dating in the Hawaiian Islands. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 73: 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0019
10. Meyer, W., J. Eble, K. Franklin, R. McManus*, S. Brantley*, J. Henkel*, Marek, W.E. Hall, C. Olson, R. McInroy*, E. Bernal Loaiza*, R. Brusca, W. Moore (2015). Ground-dwelling arthropod communities of a Sky Island mountain range in Southeastern Arizona, USA: Obtaining a baseline for assessing the effects of climate change. PLoS One. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0135210
11. Eble, J., B. Bowen, G. Bernardi (2015). Phylogeography of Coral Reef Fishes. In: Ecology and Conservation of Fishes on Coral Reefs: The functioning of an ecosystem in a changing world, C. Mora (ed.). University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. ISBN: 9781107089181. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316105412.009
12. Brusca, R.C., W.M. Meyer, J. Overpeck, K. Franklin, J.F Wiens, J. Eble, W. Moore (2014). Reply to C. Bertelsen: Review of plant elevation changes in Arizona. Phytoneuron 2014-111: 1-4.
13. Selkoe, K., O. Gaggiotti, K. Andrews, M. Bernal, H. Bolick, I. Baums, R. Coleman, G. Concepcion, M. Craig, J. DiBattista, J. Eble, I. Fernandez-Silva, M. Gaither, M. Iacchei, N. Polato, M. Rivera, L. Rocha, D. Skillings, M. Timmers, Z. Szabo, B. Bowen, R. Toonen (2014). Emergent patterns of population genetic structure for a coral reef community. Molecular Ecology, 23(12): 3064-3079. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.12804
14. DeMartini, E., R. Langston, J. Eble (2014). Spawning seasonality and body sizes at sexual maturity in the Bluespine Unicornfish, Naso unicornis (Acanthuridae). Ichthyological Research, 61(3): 243-251. DOI 10.1007/s10228-014-0393-z; https://typeset.io/papers/spawning-seasonality-and-body-sizes-at-sexual-maturity-in-57iz404b9i
15. Bowen, B., L. Rocha, R. Toonen, S. Karl, M. Craig, J. DiBattista, J. Eble, M. Gaither, D. Skillings, C. Bird. (2013). The origins of tropical marine biodiversity. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 28(6): 359 – 366. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2013.01.018 ‡
16. DiBattista, J., M. Berumen, M. Gaither, L. Rocha, J. Eble, J. Choat, M. Craig, D. Skillings, B. Bowen (2013). After continents divide: Comparative phylogeography of reef fishes from the Red sea and Indian Ocean. Journal of Biogeography, 40(6): 1170-1181
17. Moore, W., W. Meyer, J. Eble, J. Weins, R. Brusca (2013). Introduction to the Arizona Sky Island Project (ASAP): Systematics, Biogeography, Ecology, and Population Genetics of Arthropods of the Madrean Archipelago. Biodiversity and management of the Madrean Archipelago III. 2012 May 1-5, Tucson, AZ. Proceedings RMRS-P-xx. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.
18. Brusca, R., J. Weins, W. Meyer, J. Eble, K. Franklin, W. Moore (2013) Dramatic response to rapid climate change in the Southwest: Robert Whittaker’s Santa Catalina Mountains plant transect revisited. Ecology and Evolution. doi: 10.1002/ece3.720.full ‡
19. Sheppard, C. et al. (2013). British Indian Ocean Territory (the Chagos Archipelago): Setting, Connections and the Marine Protected Area. In: Coral Reefs of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories, C. Sheppard (ed.). Coral Reefs of the World 4, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5965-1_17.
20. Sheppard, C. et al. (2012) Reefs and islands of the Chagos Archipelago, Indian Ocean: Why it is the world’s largest no-take marine protected area. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. DOI: 10.1002/aqc.1248.
21. Eble, A., L.S. Sorenson*, Y.P. Papastamatiou, L. Basch, R.J. Toonen, B.W. Bowen (2011). Escaping paradise: Larval export from Hawaii in an Indo-Pacific reef fish, the Yellow Tang. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 428: 245-258. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09083
22. Toonen, R., C. Bird, J. Eble, K. Andrews, J. Schultz, T. Daly-Engel, D. Skillings, M. Iacchei, M. Trimmers, A. Faucci, I. Baums, B. Bowen (2011). Defining boundaries for applying ecosystem-based management: A multispecies case study of marine connectivity across the Hawaiian Archipelago. Journal of Marine Biology. Volume 2011, Article ID 460173. DOI: 10.1155/2011/460173
23. Eble, J.A., M.T. Craig, L. Rocha, B.W. Bowen (2011). Not all offspring stay close to home: Trans-Pacific dispersal and gene flow in Indo-Pacific reef fishes. Journal of Marine Biology. Volume 2011, Article ID 518516. https://doi.org/10.1155/2011/518516
24. Craig, M.T., J.A. Eble, B.W. Bowen. (2010). Origins, ages, and population histories: Comparative phylogeography of endemic Hawaiian butterflyfishes (genus Chaetodon). Journal of Biogeography. 37: 2125-2136. DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2699.2010.02358.X
25. Eble, J.A., R.J. Toonen, B.W. Bowen (2009). Endemism and dispersal: comparative phylogeography of three surgeonfishes across the Hawaiian Archipelago. Marine Biology. 156: 689-698. DOI: 10.1007/s00227-008-1119-4
26. Christie, M.R., J.A. Eble (2009). Isolation and characterization of 23 microsatellite loci in the Yellow Tang, Zebrasoma flavescens. Molecular Ecology Resources. 9: 44-546. doi: 10.1111/j.1755-0998.2008.02354.x
27. Craig, M.T., J.A. Eble, D.R. Robertson, B.W. Bowen (2007). High genetic connectivity across the Indian and Pacific Oceans in the reef fish Myripristis berndti (Holocentridae). Marine Ecological Progress Series. 334: 245-254. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps334245 

Research

My research investigates the influence of ecological and environmental factors on biodiversity, from genes to species, to more effectively define and protect critical management units. Over the last ten years, I have worked to characterize intra-specific patterns of genetic diversity in coastal fishes to provide insights into the origins of marine biodiversity and improve our understanding of species' dispersal ecology. My findings have helped to prioritize conservation efforts, but also reveal the need for further evaluation of species’ adaptive and behavioral responses to anthropogenic impacts. 

To provide critical insights into species’ response to environmental stressors, with collaborators I am investigating the utility of environmental DNA (eDNA) for rapid, cost-effective bio-monitoring of marine communities. EDNA relies on the detection of trace amounts of naturally occurring DNA in sediment and water samples to determine species’ presence and abundance, offering enormous potential for future studies of aquatic biodiversity.  My current work is focussed on evaluating emerging eDNA approaches, which includes benchmarking samples of known taxonomy against taxonomic inferences from a combination of eDNA sample sources and alternative markers. The validated eDNA approaches can then be used to characterize biodiversity across trophic levels to help identify drivers of temporal and spatial variation in marine biodiversity.