João Gabriel Duarte Rosado

Ph.D. Student

joaogabriel.duarterosado @kaust.edu.sa

Biography

João hails from Brazil, specifically Rio de Janeiro - one of the most beautiful places in the world. João has long loved diving and enjoying the marine world in myriad ways, including surfing and sailing. He also loves to connect with distinct cultures and travel the world doing what he loves the most: restoring degraded marine environments and performing research to preserve marine life, especially coral reefs. João graduated with a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences specializing in Genetics from the Institute of Biology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Then he did his master's thesis with us at KAUST, entitled "The Red Sea Coral Reef Cryptobiome: How do Nearby Benthic Communities Influence the Biodiversity of the Hidden Majority." Currently, he is doing his PhD thesis entitled: "Revitalizing Reef Biodiversity: Investigating Cryptobenthic Succession and Alternative Nature-Based Solutions for Coral Reef."

Research Interests

Analysis of coral reef ecosystem parameters in the Red Sea, such as diversity and abundance of reef species, and its correlation with the whole reef functioning, in order to contribute to the development of better management plans and conservation projects. Monitoring species richness on different marine habitats and their ecological function, in order to establish evidence of relationships between functional diversity, changes in environmental location, and changes in ocean patterns (such as climate change). Another goal is to restore degraded marine environments and preserve marine life, especially coral reef ecosystems threatened by climate change. I had a previous past work experience running several mesocosm experiments on a wide diversity of coral species and a set of skills obtained through extensive work on coral probiotics, the so-called Beneficial Microorganisms for Corals, that also made me focus on preventing coral bleaching around the globe. I also have interest broadly within a field of work centered on coral reef ecology and in the development of innovative solutions to enhance coral's health and resilience in a changing world. 

Selected Publications

  • Santoro, E.P.; Borges, R.M.; Espinoza, J.L.; Freire, M.; Messias, C.S.M.A.; Villela, H.D.M.; Mattos, L.P.; Vilela, C.L.S.; Rosado, J.G.; Cardoso, P.M.; Rosado, P.M.; Assis, J.M.; Duarte, G.A.S.; Perna, G.; Rosado, A.S.; Macrae, A.; Dupont, C.L.; Nelson K.E.; Sweet, M.J.; Voolstra, C.R.; Peixoto, R.S. Coral Microbiome Manipulation Elicits Metabolic and Genetic Restructuring to Mitigate Heat stress and Evade Mortality. Science Advances, 2021. DOI:10.1126/sciadv.abg3088.
  • Rosado, P.M.; Cardoso, P.M.; Rosado J.G.; Schultz J.; da Rocha, U.N.; Keller-Costa, T.; Peixoto, R.S. Exploring the Potential Molecular Mechanisms of Interactions between a Probiotic Consortium and Its Coral Host. mSystems, 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00921-22
  • Cardoso PM, Hill LJ, Villela HDM, Vilela CLS, Assis JM, Rosado PM, Rosado JG, Chacon MA, Majzoub ME, Duarte GAS, Thomas T, Peixoto RS. 0. Localization and symbiotic status of probiotics in the coral holobiont. mSystems 0:e00261-24. https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00261-24
  • Delgadillo-Ordoñez N, Garcias-Bonet N, Raimundo I, García F, Villela H, Osman E, Santoro E, Curdia J, Rosado J, Cardoso P, Alsaggaf A, Barno A, Antony C, Bocanegra C, Berumen M, Voolstra C, Benzoni F, Carvalho S, Peixoto R. Probiotics reshape the coral microbiome in situ without detectable off-target effects in the surrounding environment. Communications Biology 7, 434 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06135-3
  • Silva DP, Duarte G, Villela HDM, Santos HF, Rosado PM, Rosado JG, Rosado AS, Ferreira EM, Soriano AU, Peixoto RS (2018) Adaptable mesocosm facility to study oil spill impacts on corals. Ecology and Evolution

Professional Profile

  • Jan/2023 – Dec/2026 (current)
Ph.D. student at the Reef Ecology Lab and the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management Lab, Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Advisors: Prof. Michael Berumen and Prof. Susana Carvalho.

  • Jan/2021 – Dec/2022
M.Sc. student at the Reef Ecology Lab, Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Advisors: Prof. Michael Berumen and Dr. Susana Carvalho.

  • Sep/2018 – Dec/2020
Bachelor's student at the Institute of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Advisors: Prof. Raquel Peixoto and Dr. Helena Villela.

  • Oct/2017 – Aug/2018
Trainee at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis.
Advisors: Prof. Patrick Brown and Dr. Douglas Amaral.

  • July/2016 – July/2017
Trainee at the Institute of Microbiology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Advisor: Prof. Raquel Peixoto.


Field Experience:

  • 2024: Research Expedition – Madagascar, Nosy Be
Member of the Nosy Be research expedition in Madagascar, performing anemone bleaching surveys and collections for microbiome analysis and targeted eDNA collections from sediment around the anemones for the surrounding community DNA over various sites around the island location. This effort aimed to compare distinct patterns of bleaching in anemones and assess their population genetics, and trace potential changes in their microbiome and metabolomic profiles (using lipidomes profile analysis, for example), in a partnership between the Biodiversity and Ecosystems Management Lab, the Reef Ecology Lab, the Molecular Diagnostics and Drug Discovery (MD3) Lab, and the Centre National de Recherches Océanographiques (CNRO).

  • 2024: Reef Restoration Biodiversity Monitoring– Al Fahal Reef, Red Sea (current)
Running an in-situ experiment at Al Fahal Reef (Red Sea), with the deployment and retrieval of settlement tiles using different types of substrate, use, and analysis of incubation chambers (nutrient, DOC, shotgun metagenomics), fish and biomass surveys, Structure-from-Motion photomosaic models, bleaching photo transects, eDNA collections from water and sediments and analysis of the marine communities, nutrients overview, and multiple sensor data analysis from CTDs, oxygen sensors (miniDOTs), Hobo Loggers, ADCP, and PAR.

  • 2023: Research Expedition – Kimbe Island, Papua New Guinea
Member of the Kimbe Bay research expedition in Papua New Guinea, performing biodiversity surveys and eDNA collections from sediment over various sites around the bay location; also collected sediment eDNA from hydrothermal vents located around the area; this effort aimed to compare this environmental and biological generated dataset with analyses of soundscapes throughout the bay through the deployment and studies of various hydrophones, in a partnership between the Biodiversity and Ecosystems Management Lab, the Reef Ecology Lab, and the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol.


  • 2023: Coral Larval Settlement Experiment 
Conducted major fieldwork campaigns on coral spawning of Acropora larvae in April’s full moon and lab-based experiments on larval settlement. Our project aimed to understand the interactions between coral larvae and various benthic algae. Daily tasks included preparing and maintaining treatment solutions and settlement tiles, ensuring the replication of natural ocean conditions to foster adequate larval settlement, reproducing the games through artificial fertilization in the lab, and maintaining coral larvae alive and well. Under controlled laboratory conditions, we meticulously monitored the behavior and survival rates of coral larvae exposed to different benthic algae and explored their metabolomic alterations. This experiment highlighted the potential facilitative effects of Crustose Coralline Algae on coral recruitment. It gave me impactful insights into coral reef ecology and conservation strategies, in which coral spawning plays a central role.

  • 2021 – 2023: Cryptobiome functioning ARMS project - Tahla Reef, Red Sea
Running an in-situ experiment at the Tahla Reef (Red Sea), with the deployment and retrieval of ARMS, usage modified incubation chambers on these ARMS structures, various analyses conducted such as inorganic nutrients, DOC, DIC, TA, community respiration, and metabarcoding of the following gene markers: COI and 18S, fish and biomass surveys, bleaching photo transects, eDNA collections and analysis of the marine planktonic communities, CTD, Hobo Logger (temperature), PAR, ADCP, and dissolved oxygen sensor analyses, as part of the M.Sc. project thesis from KAUST, Makkah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

  • 2021: Research Expedition - The Red Sea Development Company, Red Sea
Member of the Al Wajh research expedition in the Northern Red Sea (Saudi Arabia), performing biodiversity surveys, underwater visual census fish surveys, eDNA collections, and Structure-from-Motion photomosaic models in a collaboration between KAUST and The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), Al Wajh, Tabuk, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

  • 2019: Marine Aquarium of Rio de Janeiro (AquaRio)
Running a mesocosm experiment on coral species Pocillopora damicornis at the Rio de Janeiro Marine Aquarium facilities (AquaRio), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

  • 2018: Marine Aquarium of Rio de Janeiro (AquaRio)
Running and leading a mesocosm experiment on coral species Mussismilia hispida at the Rio de Janeiro Marine Aquarium facilities (AquaRio), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

  • 2017-18: UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences
Running and monitoring a greenhouse experiment with Soybean and Wheat crops and using diverse foliar plant biostimulants at the University of California, Davis, CA, United States.

  • 2017-18: UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences
Monitoring whole nutrient uptake of several plantation fields in Fresno, CA, United States.

  • 2015-16: Institute of Microbiology (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro)
Coral sampling and monitoring experiment, running a mesocosm system on oil bioremediation on coral species Millepora alcicornis in Búzios, RJ, Brazil