Dr. Thomas has conducted extensive field research in marine biodiversity and biogeography of tropical and subtropical marine systems, especially coral reefs. His specialty is documenting evolutionary diversity in coral reef and near-shore tropical marine ecosystems. He has held posts as Curator of Crustacea at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and served as Research Director for the National Coral Reef Institute. The majority of Dr. Thomas’s research efforts involve the taxonomy, systematics, and ecology of amphipod crustaceans, especially commensal species that inhabit interior cavities of sponges, ascidians, and bivalve mollusks. Recent studies focusing on in-situ collection of potential hosts in deepwater habitats have yielded a wealth of new commensal species and host records.

Moorea Biocode Project