Education

• B.A., University of California, San Diego
• Ph.D., Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD

Research Interests

Fisheries Genetics and Pelagic Fishes Program

My research interests are broadly focused on the processes of molecular evolution in the marine environment. In particular, my research program is directed toward 1) the use of molecular techniques to elucidate the population structure of marine organisms, with an emphasis on pelagic fishes; 2) the application of techniques in molecular genetics to help resolve problems in fishery science; and 3) the use of molecular genetic data to infer the evolutionary relationships. In addition, we have recently focused our research efforts to estimate the survival of billfish released from recreational and commercial fishing gear, and to devise means of reducing incidental bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery.

Current Projects

• Population structure of Atlantic bluefin tuna
• Phylogeny of istiophorid billfishes
• Population structure of istiophorid billfishes
• Post-release survival and habitat utilization of istiophorid billfishes
• Post-release survival, seasonal movements, and habitat utilization of red drum
• Post-release survival of school size bluefin tuna
• Movements and habitat utilization of roundscale spearfish and white marlin

Selected Publications

2006 - Present

(**Undergraduate Student; *Graduate Student, Postdoctoral Fellow)     

 

• *Verissimo, A., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. Genetic population structure and connectivity in a commercially exploited and wide-ranging deepwater shark, the leafscale gulper Centrophorus squamosus. Mar.Freshwater Res., in press.

• Rooker, J.R., J.R. Simms, R.J.D. Wells, S.A. Holt, G.J. Holt, J.E. Graves, and N.B. Furey.  Distributions and habitat associations of billfish and swordfish larvae across mesoscale features in the Gulf of Mexico.  PLoS ONE, in press.

 

• Graves, J.E., A.Z. Horodysky, and D.W. Kerstetter.  Incorporating circle hooks into Atlantic pelagic fisheries: case studies from the commercial tuna/swordfish longline and recreational billfish fisheries.  Bull. Mar. Sci., in press.
• Kerstetter, D.W., S.M. Bayse, J.L. Fenton, and J.E. Graves. 2011.  Sailfish habitat utilization and vertical movements in the southern Gulf of Mexico and Florida. Marine and Coastal Fisheries, 3: 353-365.

• *Sorenson, L., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2011. Isolation and characterization of microsatellite markers for blue marlin, Makaira nigricans.  Conservation Genetics Resources, 3: 721-723.

• Collette, B.B., J.E. Graves,  et al. (33 authors).  2011. High value and long life – double jeopardy for tunas and billfishes. Science 333:291-292.

• *Lynch, P.D., J.E. Graves, and R.J. Latour. 2011. Challenges in the assessment and management of highly migratory bycatch species: a case study of Atlantic marlins. Pages 197-226.  W.W. Taylor, M.G. Schechter, and A.J. Lynch, editors. Sustainable fisheries: multilevel approaches to a global problem. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD.

• *Veríssimo, A., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2011. Population structure of a deepwater squaloid shark, the Portuguese dogfish Centroscymnus coelolepis.  ICES Journal of Marine Science 68: 555-563.

• Pacheco, J.C., D.W. Kerstetter, F.H. Hazin, H. Hazin, R.S.S.L. Segundo, J.E. Graves, F. Carvalho, and P.E. Travassos. 2011.  A comparison of circle hook and J hook performance in a western equatorial Atlantic Ocean pelagic longline fishery. Fisheries Research 107: 39-45.

• *Veríssimo, A. , M. T. Moura, J. McDowell, J. Graves, L. Gordo, and R. Hoelzel. 2011. Isolation and characterization of ten nuclear microsatellite loci for the Portuguese dogfish Centroscymnus coelolepis.  Conservation Genetics Resources 3: 299-301.

• Graves, J.E., and A.Z. Horodysky.  2010. Asymmetric conservation benefits of circle hooks in multispecies billfish recreational fisheries: a synthesis of hook performance and analysis of blue marlin post-release survival. Fish. Bull. 108:433-441.

• *Portnoy, D.S., J.R. McDowell, E.J. Heist, J.A. Musick, and J.E. Graves. 2010. World phylogeography and male-mediated gene flow in the sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus. Molecular Ecology 19:1994-2010.
• *Verissimo, A., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2010. Global population structure of the spiny dogfish Squalus acanthias, a temperate shark with an antitropical distribution.  Molecular Ecology 19:1651-1662.
• *Lynch, A.J., J.R. McDowell, and J. E. Graves. 2010. A molecular genetic investigation of the population structure of Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus).  Fish. Bull. 108:87-97.

• *Portnoy, D.S., J.R. McDowell, C.T. McCandless, J.A. Musick, and J.E. Graves. 2009.  Effective size closely approximates the census size in the heavily exploited western Atlantic population of sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus.  Conservation Genetics 10:1697-1705.

• Dickhut, R., A. Deshpande, A. Cincinelli, Alessandra. M. Cochran, S. Corsolini, R. Brill, D. Secor, and J.E. Graves. 2009. Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) population dynamics delineated by organochlorine tracers. Environmental Science and Technology 43:8522-8527.

• Graves, J.E., A.Z. Horodysky, and R.J. Latour. Use of pop-up satellite archival tag technology to study postrelease survival and habitat utilization of estuarine and coastal fishes: an application to striped bass. Fish. Bull., 107: 373-383.
• *Gray, K.N., J.R. McDowell, B.B. Collette, and J.E. Graves. 2009. A molecular phylogeny of the remoras and their relatives. Bull. Mar. Sci. 84:183-198.
• *Gray, K.N., J.R. McDowell, B.B. Collette, and J.E. Graves. 2009. An investigation of the global population structure of the marlinsucker (Remora osteochir) inferred from mitochondrial control region DNA sequences. Bull. Mar. Sci. 84:25-42.
• Kerstetter, D.W., and J.E. Graves. 2008. Post-release survival of sailfish caught by commercial pelagic longline gear in the southern Gulf of Mexico. N. Am. J. Fish. Management 28: 1578-1586.
• *Chandler, E.A., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2008. Genetically monomorphic invasive populations of the rapa whelk, Rapana venosa. Molecular Ecology 17: 4079-4091.
• McDowell, J.R., and J.E. Graves. 2008. Population structure of striped marlin (Kajikia audax) in the Pacific Ocean based on analysis of microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 65:1307-1320.
• *Brendtro, K.S., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2008. Population genetic structure of escolar (Lepidocybium flavobrunneum). Mar. Biol. 155:11-22.
• Graves, J.E., and *A.Z. Horodysky. 2008. Does Hook Choice Matter? Effects of three circle hook models on post-release survival of white marlin. N. Am. J. Fish. Management 28:471-480.
• *Paine, M.A., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2008. Specific identification using CO1 sequences analysis of scombrid larvae collected off the Kona coast of Hawaii. Ichthyological Research 55:7-16.
• *Paine, M.A., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2007. Specific identification of western Atlantic Ocean scombrids using mitochondrial DNA cyytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1) gene region sequences. Bull. Mar. Sci., 80:353-367.
• McDowell, J.R., J.E.L. Carlsson, and J.E. Graves. 2007. Genetic analysis of blue marlin (Makaira nigricans) stock structure in the Atlantic Ocean. Gulf and Caribbean Research 19(2): 75-82.
• *Horodysky, A.Z., *D.W. Kerstetter, R.J. Latour, and J.E. Graves. 2007. Habitat utilization and vertical movements of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) released from commercial and recreational fishing gears in the western North Atlantic Ocean: inferences from short-duration pop-up archival satellite tags (PSATS). Fisheries Oceanography 16: 240-256.
• Carlsson, J., J.R. McDowell, J.E.L. Carlsson, and J.E. Graves. 2007. Genetic identity of YOY bluefin tuna from the eastern and western Atlantic spawning areas. J. Heredity 98:23-28.
• *Portnoy, D.S., A.N. Piercy, J.A. Musick, G.H. Burgess, and J.E. Graves. 2007. Genetic polyandry and sexual conflict in the sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus, in the western North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Molecular Ecology 16:187-197.
• Graves, J.E., and J.R. McDowell. 2006. Genetic analysis of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) stock structure. Bull. Mar. Sci. 79:469-482.
• Collette, B.B., J.R. McDowell, and J.E. Graves. 2006. Phylogeny of Recent billfishes (Xiphioidei). Bull. Mar. Sci. 79:455-468.
• Carlsson, J., J.R. McDowell, J.E.L. Carlsson, D. Olafsdottir, and J.E. Graves. 2006. Genetic heterogeneity of Atlantic bluefin tuna caught in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean south of Iceland. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 63:1111-1117.
• *Portnoy, D.S., J.R. McDowell, **K. Thompson, J.A. Musick and J.E. Graves. 2006. Isolation and characterization of five dinucleotide microsatellite loci in the sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus. Molecular Ecology Notes, 6:431-433.
• *Kerstetter, D.W., and J.E. Graves. 2006. Survival of white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) released from commercial pelagic longline gear in the western North Atlantic. Fishery Bulletin, 104:434-444.
• *Kerstetter, D.W., and J.E. Graves. 2006. Effects of size 16/0 circle versus size 9/0 J-style hooks on target and non-target species in a pelagic longline fishery. Fisheries Research, 80:239-250.

Current Students

• Jeanna Hudson, M.S. Program
• Emily Loose, M.S. Program
• Ben Marcek, M.S. Program
• Tony Nalovic, M.S. Program
• Lela Schlenker, M.S. Program
• Catarina Wor, M.S. Program

 

York High / Governor's School

• Cameron Neill

Past Students

Post-Doctoral Fellows

• David Kerstetter, 2005
• Pindaro Diaz-Jaimes, 2000 - 2001
• David Carlini, 1998 - 1999
• Kimberly Reece, 1994 - 1998

Ph.D. Students

• Ana Verissimo, 2011
• Dave Portnoy, 2008
• David Kerstetter, 2005
• Jan McDowell, 2002
• Tom Orrell, 2000
• Jan Cordes, 2000
• Vince Buonaccorsi, 1998
• David Carlini, 1998
• Daniel Scoles, 1994
• Ed Heist, 1994

M.S. Students

• Laurie Sorenson, 2011
• Dan Dutton, 2010
  
• Abigail Lynch, 2008
• Emily Chandler, 2007
• Kirsten Brendtro, 2006
• Melissa Paine, 2006
• Kurtis Gray, 2005
• Andrij Horodysky, 2004
• Kelly Johnson, 2003
• David Kerstetter, 2001
• Arminda Gensler, 2001
• Felipe Arzayus, 2000
• Meredith Bostrom, 2000
• Brett Falterman, 1999
• Jeff Norrgard, 1995
• Catherine O’Neil Goodbred, 1995
• Sandra Blake Boles, 1994
• Lee Morgan, 1992

Courses Taught

• MSCI 501F  Fundamentals of Marine Fisheries Science

• MSCI 528    Marine Fisheries Science

• MSCI 515    Fisheries Science Seminar

• MSCI 673    Marine Molecular Genetics

• MSCI 674    Marine Molecular Genetics Laboratory

Awards

• 2011 - Sport Fishing Magazine's "Making a Difference" Award
• 2007 - International Game Fish Association, Individual Conservation Award
• 2006 - NOAA Fisheries Service Special Recognition Award
• 2004 - Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award
• 2001 - NOAA Team Member of the Month
• 1995 - The Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award, College of William & Mary
• 1992 - The Outstanding Teacher Award, School of Marine Science, College of William & Mary

Advisory Service

• Chairman, U.S. Advisory Committee to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
• Member National Marine Fisheries Service Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel
• Member International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Tuna and Billfish Specialist Group, 2009-present