Sean Lema

Research Interests:

• Endocrine disruption by chemical pollutants
• Behavioral ecology of marine and freshwater fishes
• Environmental endocrinology
• Evolution of developmental and behavioral plasticity in changing environments
• Integration of phenotypic plasticity into new approaches to conservation

Education:

Ph.D., Animal Behavior, University of California, Davis, 2004
M.S., Animal Behavior, University of California, Davis, 2001
B.S., Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, 1999

Professional Appointments:

Assistant Professor of Biology, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, 2011-Present
Assistant Professor of Biology and Marine Biology, Center for Marine Science, University of North Carolina, Wilmington, 2008-2011
Postdoctoral Associate, West Coast Center for Oceans and Human Health, NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Seattle, WA, 2004-2007

Current Research Projects:

• Impacts of polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants on the thyroid system of teleost fishes.
• Integration of morphological and endocrine biomarkers in fish as indicators of environmental chemical pollutant exposure.
• Impacts of changing coral reef ecosystems for reef fish behavior and physiology.
• Ecological and evolutionary diversification of social behavior, stress reactivity and osmoregulatory ability in fishes through vasotocin and isotocin nonapeptide hormone pathways.
• Endocrine disruption in marine fishes and invertebrates by xenoestrogen chemicals (e.g., 4-nonylphenol).

Selected recent publications:

Hardy, K.M., Follett, C.R., Burnett, L.E., Lema S.C. (2012) Gene transcripts encoding hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) exhibit tissue- and muscle fiber type-dependent responses to hypoxia and hypercapnic hypoxia in the Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 163, 137-146.

Schrandt, M.S., Hardy, K.M., Johnson, K.M., Lema, S.C. (2012) Physical habitat and social conditions across a coral reef shape spatial patterns of intraspecific behavioral variation in a demersal fish. Marine Ecology 33, 149-164.

Schrandt, M.S., Lema, S.C. (2011) Intraspecific variation in stress reactivity of a demersal fish associates with spatial variation in coral reef structure. Marine Ecology Progress Series 443, 153-166.

Johnson, K.M., Lema, S.C. (2011) Tissue-specific regulation of gene transcripts encoding iodothyronine deiodinases and thyroid hormone receptors in striped parrotfish (Scarus iserti). General and Comparative Endocrinology 172, 505-517.

Lema, S.C., Wagstaff, L.J., Gardner, N.M. (2010) Diurnal rhythms of behavior and brain mRNA expression for arginine vasotocin, isotocin and their receptors in wild Amargosa pupfish. Marine and Freshwater Behavior and Physiology 43, 257-281.

Kitano, J., Lema, S.C., Luckenbach, J.A., Mori, S., Kawagishi, Y., Kusakabe, M., Swanson, P., Peichel, C.L. (2010) Adaptive divergence in the thyroid hormone signaling pathway in the stickleback radiation. Current Biology 20, 2124-2130.

Lema, S.C. (2010) Identification of multiple vasotocin receptor cDNAs in teleost fish: sequences, phylogenetic analysis, sites of expression, and regulation in the hypothalamus and gill in response to acute osmotic challenge. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology 321, 215-230.

Hardy, K.M., Lema, S.C., Kinsey, S.T. (2010) The metabolic demands of swimming behavior influence the evolution of skeletal muscle fiber design in the Brachyuran swimming crab family Portunidae. Marine Biology 157, 221-236.

Lema, S.C., Dickey, J.T., Schultz, I.R., Swanson, P. (2009) Thyroid hormone regulates mRNAs encoding thyrotropin β-subunit, glycoprotein α-subunit and thyroid hormone receptors in the brain, pituitary gland, liver and gonads of an adult teleost, Pimephales promelas. Journal of Endocrinology 202, 43-54.

Lema, S.C., Dickey, J.T., Schultz, I.R., Swanson, P. (2008) Dietary exposure to 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE 47) alters thyroid status and thyroid hormone-regulated gene transcription in the pituitary and brain. Environmental Health Perspectives 116, 1694-1699.

DeBose, J.L., Lema, S.C., Nevitt, G.A. (2008) Dimethylsulfoniopropionate as a foraging cue for reef fishes. Science 319, 1356.

Lema, S.C. (2008) The phenotypic plasticity of Death Valley's pupfish. American Scientist 96, 28-36.

Lema, S.C., Schultz, I.R., Scholz, N.L., Incardona, J.P., Swanson, P. (2007) Neural defects and cardiac arrhythmia in fish larvae following embryonic exposure to 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (PBDE 47). Aquatic Toxicology 82, 296-307

Lema, S.C. (2006) Population divergence in plasticity of the AVT system and its association with aggressive behaviors in a Death Valley pupfish. Hormones and Behavior 50, 183-193.

Lema, S.C., Nevitt, G.A. (2006) An ecophysiological mechanism for morphological plasticity in pupfish and its relevance to conservation efforts for endangered Devils Hole pupfish. Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 3499-3509.

Kihslinger, R.L., Lema, S.C., Nevitt, G.A. (2006) Environmental rearing conditions produce forebrain differences in wild Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 145, 145-151.

Lema, S.C., Hodges, M.J., Marchetti, M.P., Nevitt, G.A. (2005) Proliferation zones in the salmon telencephalon and evidence for environmental influence on proliferation rate. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 141, 327-335.

Lema, S.C., Nevitt, G.A. (2004) Evidence that thyroid hormone induces olfactory cellular proliferation in salmon during a sensitive period for imprinting. Journal of Experimental Biology 207, 3317-3327.

Current Graduate Students:

• Kaitlin Johnson
• Former Graduate Students:
• Meagan Schrandt (M.S. Marine Biology, UNC Wilmington, 2010)

Current UnderGraduate Students:

• Ghislene Adjaoute
• Kevin Amegin
• Paul Carvalho
• Jennifer Egelston
• Liana Meffert
• Amanda Muzzio
• Brian Rice
• Katie Sanders
• Kayla Walti