Kerr Lab
Kerr Lab
Kerr Lab
Alexander M. Kerr
Assistant Professor of Marine Biology
BA magna cum laude, MSC University of Guam;
MPhil, PhD Yale
I'm originally from Canada and have lived most of my life on the Micronesian island of Guam, where I surfed, learnt how to cha-cha, met my wife Joni and began our family of three children Alexandra Isa, Alana Capella and Roy Aguarin. I attempt to play classical guitar and the bagpipes. I've served in the US military as a civil engineer and a combat medic. I have an Erdös number of 4.
I am interested in the comparative evolution and phylogenetics of two important groups of coral-reef organisms, corals and echinoderms. Using supertree techniques, we have recently produced the most comprehensive phylogeny of scleractinian corals. Also, with colleagues, we have recently estimated the first class-level phylogeny of Holothuroidea, the sea cucumbers, from nucleotide sequences and morphological characters. These are some pretty big trees, with over 350 and 200 species, respectively. Using these estimates and comparative methods, we are testing hypotheses with a previously unavailable statistical power about how invertebrates diversified into a relatively new environment, scleractinian coral reefs. An organism's potential to adapt to a novel environment depends in part upon its history of evolving features needed in previous environs. Replicate radiations of corals and echinoderms into an identical ecosystem permit one to test such questions as: How has the history of these organisms prior to their expansion in the tropics constrained or facilitated their diversification onto coral reefs? How has the evolution of ecological innovation influenced the tropics as a source or sink for global diversity?
Courses:
BI-507-01 Advanced Statistical Methods
BI-507-01 Advanced Statistical Methods Lab
Recent Graduates
Jordan Gault
The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences offers baccalaureate degrees in the following programs: Anthropology, Communication (Communication Studies, Journalism, Mass Media, and Public Relations), English (Literature, Language, or Education Emphases), Fine Arts (Art, Music, Theater tracks), History, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Pacific-Asian Studies (Chamorro, East Asian or Japanese tracks), Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology.
Minors are offered in Anthropology, Communication, English (General or Writing), Fine Arts (Art, Music, Theater tracks), Geography, History, Pacific-Asian Studies (Chamorro, East Asian or Japanese tracks), Japanese Language, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Women and Gender Studies.
The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences awards Master of Arts Degrees in Art, English, and Micronesian Studies and a Master of Science Degree in Clinical Psychology.
Kerr, A. M., A. H. Baird and T. P. Hughes. 2011. Correlated evolution of sex and reproductive mode in corals (Anthozoa: Scleractinia). Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences 278: 75-81.
Feagin, R. A., N. Mukherjee, K. Shanker, A. H. Baird, J. Cinner,
A. M. Kerr, N. Koedam, A. Sridhar, R. Arthur, L. P. Jayatissa, D. Lo Seen, M. Menon, S. Rodriguez, M. Shamsuddoha and F. Dahdouh-Guebas. 2010. Shelter from the storm? Use and misuse of coastal vegetation bioshields for managing natural disasters. Conservation Letters 3: 1-11.
Raymundo, L. J., A. R. Halford, A. P. Maypa and A. M. Kerr. 2009. Functionally diverse reef-fish communities ameliorate coral disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 106: 17067-17070.
Kerr, A. M., A. H. Baird, R. S. Bhalla and V. Srinivas. 2009. Reply to ‘Using remote sensing to assess the protective role of coastal woody vegetation against tsunami waves’. International Journal of Remote Sensing 30: 3817-3820.
Baird, A. H., R.. S. Bhalla, A. M. Kerr, N. Pelkey and V. Srinivas. 2009. Are mangroves an effective natural barrier to storm surges or tsunami? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A. 106: E111.
Konow, N., D. R. Bellwood, P. C. Wainright and A. M. Kerr. 2008. Novel jaw joints promote trophic diversity in coral reef fishes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 93: 545- 555.
Baird, A. H. and A. M. Kerr. 2007. Landscape analysis and tsunami damage in Aceh: Comment on Iverson and Prasad. Landscape Ecology 23: 3-5. Kerr, A. M. and A. H. Baird. 2007. Natural barriers to natural disasters. BioScience 57: 102- 103.
Kerr, A. M., A. H. Baird and S. J. Campbell. 2006. Comments on “Coastal mangrove forests mitigated tsunami” by K. Kathiresan and N. Rajendran. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 67: 539-541.
Kerr, A. M. 2005. Molecular and morphological supertree of stony corals (Anthozoa:
Scleractinia) using matrix representation parsimony. Biological Reviews 80: 543-558. 
A much clearer Figure 2 with correct support values is HERE.
Kerr, A.M., D. Janies, R. M. Clouse, Y. Samyn, J. Kuszak and J. Kim. 2005. Molecular
phylogeny of coral-reef sea cucumbers (Holothuroidea: Aspidochirotida) based on 16S
mt rDNA sequence. Marine Biotechnology 7: 53-60.
Clouse, R. M., D. A. Janies and A. M. Kerr. 2005. The resurrection of Bohadschia bivittata from B. marmorata (Holothuroidea: Holothuriidae) based on behavioural, morphological and mitochondrial
DNA evidence. Zoology 108: 27-39.
Samyn, Y., W. Appeltans and A. M. Kerr. 2005. Monophyly of Labidodemas (Aspidochirotida: Holothuriidae) and phylogeny of Holothuriidae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 144: 103-120.
Kerr, A. M. 2005. Behavior of web-invading spiders Argyrodes argentatus (Theridiidae) in Argiope appensa (Araneidae) host webs, Guam, Mariana Islands, Micronesia. Journal of Arachnology 33: 1-6.
Connell, J. H., T. J. Hughes, C. C. Wallace, J. E. Tanner, K. E. Harms and A. M. Kerr.
2004. A 35-year study of competition, species composition and diversity of corals.
Ecological Monographs 74: 179-210.
Kerr, A. M. and A. S. Quenga. 2004. Population variation of web-invading spiders (Theridiidae:
Argyrodes spp.) on host webs in Guam, Mariana Islands, Micronesia. Journal of Natural History 38: 671-680.
Kerr, A. M. 2003. Holothuroidea (Sea Cucumbers). Pages 417-432 in D. Thoney (ed.), Lower Metazoans and Lesser Deuterostomes. Volume I. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. New York: Gale Group Publishers. Link
Paulay, G. and A.M. Kerr. 2001. Patterns of coral reef development in Tarawa Atoll
(Kiribati). Bulletin of Marine Science 69: 1191-1208.
Kerr, A.M. and J. Kim. 2001. Phylogeny of Holothuroidea (Echinodermata) inferred from
morphology. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 133: 63-81.
Kerr, A.M. 2001. Phylogeny of apodan holothurians (Echinodermata) inferred from morphology.
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 133: 53-62.
Kerr, A.M. 2000. Defoliation of an island (Guam, Mariana Archipelago, Western Pacific
Ocean) following a saltspray-laden "dry" typhoon. Journal of Tropical Ecology 16: 895-901.
Kerr, A.M. 2000. Discussion of Hsu, S.A. and Yan, Z. 1998 "A note on the radius of
maximum wind for hurricanes." Journal of Coastal Research 16: 494-495.
Kerr, A. M. 2000. Holothuroidea. In D.R. Maddison and W. P. Maddison (eds.), The Tree of Life Web Project: A multi-authored, distributed internet project containing information about phylogeny and biodiversity. TOL page
Kerr, A.M. 2000. Evolution and Systematics of Holothuroidea (Echinodermata). Ph.D. Thesis, Yale University.
Kerr, A.M. and J. Kim. 1999. Bi-deca-bi-pentaradial symmetry: A review of evolutionary
and developmental trends in Holothuroidea (Echinodermata). Journal of Experimental Zoology (Developmental and Molecular Evolution) 285: 93-103.
Kerr, A. M. 1994. Shallow-water holothuroids (Echinodermata) of Kosrae, Eastern Caroline
Islands. Pacific Science 48: 161-174.
Kerr, A. M. 1994. Effects of Disturbance to Holothuroid (Echinodermata) Community Structure. M.Sc. Thesis, Marine Laboratory, University of Guam.
Kerr, A. M., R. M. Yoon and E. M. Stoffell. 1993. Abundance distribution of holothuroids
(Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) on a windward and leeward fringing reef, Guam, Mariana
Islands. Bulletin of Marine Science 52: 780-791.
Kerr, A. M. 1993. Unusually low frequency of stabilimenta in webs of Argiope appensa (Araneae: Araneidae) from the Mariana Islands: an indirect effect of an introduced
avian predator? Pacific Science 47: 328-337.
Kerr, A. M., D. R. Norris, P. J. Schupp, K. D. Meyer, T. J. Pitlik, D. R. Hopper,
J. A. Chamberlain and L. S. Meyer. 1992. Range extensions of echinoderms (Asteroidea,
Echinoidea, Holothuroidea) to Guam, Mariana Islands. Micronesica 25: 201-216.
Kerr, A. M. 1991. Arachnids of the Ngerukewid Islands Wildlife Preserve, Palau. Micronesica 24: 211-215.
Kerr, A. M. 1990. Chamorro Fish Names. Micronesica 23: 93-118.
CLASS Student Success
The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences offers baccalaureate degrees in the following programs: Anthropology, Communication (Communication Studies, Journalism, Mass Media, and Public Relations), English (Literature, Language, or Education Emphases), Fine Arts (Art, Music, Theater tracks), History, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Pacific-Asian Studies (Chamorro, East Asian or Japanese tracks), Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology.
Minors are offered in Anthropology, Communication, English (General or Writing), Fine Arts (Art, Music, Theater tracks), Geography, History, Pacific-Asian Studies (Chamorro, East Asian or Japanese tracks), Japanese Language, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, Women and Gender Studies.
The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences awards Master of Arts Degrees in Art, English, and Micronesian Studies and a Master of Science Degree in Clinical Psychology.