Andia Chaves Fonnegra is a Colombian

marine biologist Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others th ...

known for her research on the marine

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through t ...

Cliona delitrix ''Cliona delitrix'' is a species of burrowing demosponge belonging to the family Clionaidae. It is found in shallow water in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Description ''Cliona delitrix'' is a burrowing sponge that is also encrusti ...

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Education and career

Fonnegra earned her bachelor's degree (2003) in marine biology from the

Jorge Tadeo Lozano University Jorge Tadeo Lozano University is a private university whose main campus is located in Bogotá, Colombia, with satellite campuses in Cartagena, Santa Marta and Chía. Established in 1954, the institution was named after the botanist, scientist a ...

and her master's degree (2006) in marine biology from the

National University of Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, Ces ...

. In 2007 she taught at Colombia's Universidad Pedagogic Nacional before moving to the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

where she worked from 2007 to 2008. In 2009 she moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and became a graduate student at

Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU or, informally, Nova) is a private nonprofit research university with its main campus in Davie, Florida. The university consists of 14 total colleges, centers, and schools offering over 150 programs of study. ...

, where she graduated in 2014 with a PhD in

oceanography Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamic ...

and

marine biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms in the sea. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies s ...

.Andia Chaves Fonnegra, Curriculum Vitae
(in Spanish) ''Colciencias'' (colciencias.gov.co) Fonnegra's dissertation was "Increase of Excavating Sponges on Caribbean Coral Reefs: Reproduction, Dispersal, and Coral Deterioration". Fonnegra was a postdoctoral researcher at the Coral Reef Restoration, Assessment & Monitoring (CRRAM) Laboratory -

in 2014-2015, later at the Center for Marine and Environmental Studies (CMES) -

University of the Virgin Islands The University of the Virgin Islands (or UVI) is a public historically black land-grant university in the United States Virgin Islands. History UVI was founded as the College of the Virgin Islands on March 16, 1962. In 1986, it officially beca ...

in 2016-2017, and also at the Department of Biomolecular Sciences - University of Mississipi in 2018. In 2018, she became an assistant professor at

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Florida, Dania Beach, Davie, Florida, Davie, Fort Lauderd ...

, where she has a joint appointment between the

Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and the Harriet Wilkes Honors College A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

. She is known for her research on the marine sponge ''Cliona delitrix'', an organism that grows between the calcium carbonate that forms the skeleton of coral reefs and that, through an excavating action, gradually deteriorates the coral. In the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

the development of this sponge has accelerated in recent years, resulting in the gradual erosion of corals, altering the ecosystem.Andia Chaves Fonnegra: científica colombiana ganadora de premio internacional
''Colciencias'', 2 March 2011

Awards and honors

* 2002 – SIGMA XI Grant Award,

Scientific Research Society Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is a highly prestigious, non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a junior faculty member and a small group of graduate students in 188 ...

* 2006 – Meritorious Mention Master's Thesis, Universidad Nacional de Colombia * 2008 – Donald Ross Academic Merit, University of Alberta * 2010 – NSU Chancellor´s Faculty Research and Development Grant, Nova Southeastern University * 2011 – L'Oréal-UNESCO Scholarship for Women in Science * 2014 – Student Life Achievement Award, Nova Southeastern University *2019 – Gulf Research Program’s Early-Career Research Fellowships of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. *2023

NSF NSF may stand for: Political organizations *National Socialist Front, a Swedish National Socialist party *NS-Frauenschaft, the women's wing of the former German Nazi party *National Students Federation, a leftist Pakistani students' political gr ...

Early Career Award, Florida Atlantic University

Selected publications

* * * * * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaves Fonnegra, Andia Living people Colombian women biologists Colombian marine biologists National University of Colombia alumni Nova Southeastern University alumni Academic staff of the National Pedagogic University (Colombia) Florida Atlantic University faculty Year of birth missing (living people)