The Marine Biology Department includes the Coral Physiology/Biochemistry team, the Coral Ecophysiology team and the Environmental Economics team.
The Coral Physiology/Biochemistry team is a pioneering team, since it has been created at the end of the 1980's. At first, it included two researchers: Dr Marie Christine Grillo and Pr Denis Allemand, currently Scientific Director of the CSM. Since 2003, Dr Sylvie Tambutté has been leading this team and she pursues the initial activities focused on the mechanisms underlying the formation of coral skeletons. This process, called Biomineralization, focuses on the organism's scale to the gene. This team is composed of 1 research director, 3 researchers, post-doctoral fellows, PhD and MSc students, technicians, with expertise in fields ranging from molecular biology to physiology, microscopy, biochemistry and bioinformatics.
The Coral Ecophysiology team has been created in 1993, to complement the work of the Physiology/Biochemistry team, by extending the scale of study of the organism to the coral ecosystem. Dr Christine Ferrier Pagès have led this team, initially entrusted to Dr Jean-Pierre Gattuso, since 2000. The work aims to understand the effects of climatic disturbances on coral ecosystems by focusing on calcification and symbiosis, key processes underlying the evolutionary success of coral reefs. The team is also studying the impact of the nutrient environment on the different partners of the coral holobiont, which includes a host animal, dinoflagellate algae, and microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi).
The Environmental Economics theme was born in 2010, from the wish of HSH Prince Albert II, to bring together economists and scientists in order to "translate" the economic consequences of climate change in the marine environment into terms that can be used by political decision-makers. Dr Nathalie Hilmi who works on three themes, has since led the work of this team: the socio-economic impacts of climate change and ocean acidification, the assessment and valuation of coral reefs and finally, economic policies and sustainable development.