Justin McAlister

Research

My research interests sit at the interface of functional and population biology and center on three broad questions:

• How do organisms respond to environmental change?
• How much variation exists for these responses?
• How come organisms respond in the way(s) that they do? 

My work is empirical, uses integrative and comparative approaches, occurs in the lab and the field, and I focus primarily on marine invertebrates and their larvae.

Educational Opportunities in the Marine Sciences

I have strong connections with a number of marine field stations and programs. I encourage students to check out opportunities available at the following institutions:

• Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, Ferry Reach, Bermuda
• Friday Harbor Labs, University of Washington
• Sea Education Association, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
• Shoals Marine Laboratory, University of New Hampshire and Cornell University
• Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Republic of Panama

Please contact me if you have specific interest in the educational and/or research internship programs offered by any of these institutions, or if you're generally interested in off-campus marine education and research opportunities and would like some suggestions.

Publications

Ianniello CF, Lavaud R, Lindsay TR, McAlister JS, Rotjan RD, Muller E. (2026). Leveraging Dynamic Energy Budgets to model coral complexity: challenges, opportunities, and a case study of facultative symbiosis. Ecological Modelling. DOI 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2026.111851 

Borbee E, Changsut I, McAlister JS, Demarco T, Davies SW, Ianniello CF, Sanchez Garcia M, Roberson LM, Schickle A, Sneed JM, Pelose G, Wuitchik D, Fuess LE, Warner JF, Babonis LS, Rotjan RD, Sharp KH. (2026). Development of methods for spawning, fertilization, larval husbandry, and settlement in the temperate coral Astrangia poculata. (2026). Frontiers of Marine Science. DOI 10.3389/fmars.2026.1901305 

Ianniello CF, McAlister JS, Ferrier-Pages C, Rotjan RD. (2025). A review of the current knowledge of the flow of carbon and energy in scleractinian corals. Coral Reefs. 44: 2191-2233. doi.org/10.1007/s00338-025-02716-8

Ianniello CF, Beery G, Chen TH, Deyle E, Heiger-Bernays W, Motter I, McAlister JS, Rotjan RD. (2025). Stress in the City: Disentangling multi-stressor events on an urbanized coral in a changing ocean. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 216: 117918 doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2025.117918

Carrier TJ, McAlister JS. (2022). Microbiota associated with echinoid eggs and the implications for maternal provisioning. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 683: 67-79. doi.org/10.3354/meps13953 

Hernandez JC, Garcia E, Clemente S, McAlister JS. (2020) Planktonic stages of the ecologically important sea urchin, Diadema africanum: larval performance under near future ocean conditions. Journal of Plankton Research. 42(3): 286-304. doi:10.1093/plankt/fbaa016

Hodin J., Heyland A, Mercier A, Pernet B, Cohen DL, Hamel J-F, Allen JD, McAlister JS, Byrne M, Cisternas P, George SB. 2019. Culturing echinoderm larvae through metamorphosis. Chapter 6 in Foltz K, Hamdoun A (eds.). Methods in Cell Biology 150 - Echinoderms. Part A: Procurement, experimental embryology and classroom approaches. Elsevier: Oxford, UK GET PDF

McAlister JS, Miner BG. 2018. Phenotypic plasticity of feeding structures in marine invertebrate larvae. In: Evolutionary Ecology of Marine Invertebrate Larvae, Eds. T. Carrier, A. Reitzel, A. Heyland. Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198786962.003.0008 GET PDF

Marshall D, McAlister JS, Reitzel AM. 2018. Evolutionary ecology of parental investment and larval diversity. In: Evolutionary Ecology of Marine Invertebrate Larvae, Eds. T. Carrier, A. Reitzel, A. Heyland. Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780198786962.003.0003 GET PDF

Eliseba García, Sabrina Clemente, Catasia López, Justin S. McAlister, José Carlos Hernández.  Ocean warming modulates the effects of limited food availability on Paracentrotus lividus larval development.  Marine Biology (2015) 162:1463–1472. GET PDF