About

I use molecular tools to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes of marine populations. Currently, my research focuses on using next-generation sequencing and genomics to understand how human populations affect connectivity and evolution in the ocean. I study a variety of organisms, from fish to sea stars.

I am dedicated to open, rigorous, and reproducible experiments and analyses.

More Information

Lab Website

Contact me

jpuritz@uri.edu

JONATHAN B. PURITZ

Department of Biological Sciences
University of Rhode Island
120 Flagg Road, Kingston RI 02881

POSITIONS HELD

Time Position Affiliation
2017- Assistant Professor University of Rhode Island, Department of Biological Sciences
2016 - 17 Postdoctoral Research Associate Marine Science Center, Northeastern University
2014 - 16 Postdoctoral Research Associate, Adjunct Graduate Faculty Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M Corpus Christi
2012 - 14 Postdoctoral Research Associate Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Science, Texas A&M University
2012 Postdoctoral Scholar, Lecturer Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaii at Manoa

EDUCATION

Date Degree Institution
2012 PhD in Zoology University of Hawaii, Manoa
2005 BSc in Biology with Honors Brown University

PUBLICATIONS

Google Scholar Profile

Statistics

1890 Citations
29 Peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters
19 h-index

Pre-prints, accepted manuscripts, and manuscripts under review

  1. Schiebelhut, L., Giakoumis, M., Castilho, R., Duffin, P.J., Puritz, J.B., Wares, J.P., Wessel, G.M., Dawson, M.N. No short-term change in genetic estimates of effective population size despite massive widespread mortality in Pisaster ochraceus. Under Review at the Biological Bulletin. 2022.
  2. Hart, M. W. Guerra, V., Byrne, M., Puritz, J.B. Genomic data improve coalescent inference across a range of demographic parameters and life-histories. Under Review at Evolutionary Applications. Preprint DOI: 10.22541/au.159990335.58331776. 2022.

Published

  1. Portnoy, D.S., Fields, A.T., Puritz, J.B., Hollenbeck, C.M., Patterson, W.F. Genomic Analysis o Red Snapper, Lutjanus campechanus, Population Structure in the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. ICES Journal of Marine Science. DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsab239. 2022.

  2. Trigg, S.A., Venkataraman, Y.R., Gavery, M., Roberts, S.B., Bhattacharya, D., Downey-Wall, A. Eirin Lopez, J.M., Johnson, K.M., Lotterhos, K.E., Puritz, J.B., Putnam, H.M. Invertebrate methylomes provide insight into mechanisms of environmental tolerance and reveal methodological biases. Molecular Ecology Resources. DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13542. 2021.

  3. Modak, T. H., Literman, R., Puritz, J.B., Johnson, K. J., Roberts, E. M., Proestou, D., Guo, X., Gomez-Chiarri, M., Schwartz, R. S. Extensive genome-wide copy number variation in the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica). Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0164. 2021.

  4. Catalano, K. A., Dedrick, A. G., Stuart, M. R., Puritz, J. B., Montes Jr., H. R., Pinsky, M. L. Quantifying dispersal variability among nearshore marine populations. Molecular Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/mec.15732. 2021.

  5. Hart, M.W. and Puritz, J.B. Correction to ‘Extraordinarily rapid life-history divergence between Cryptasterina sea star species’. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1325. 2020.

  6. O’Leary, S.J., Puritz, J. B., Willis, S.C., Hollenbeck, C.M. and Portnoy, D.S. These aren’ the loci you’re looking for: Principles of effective SNP filtering for molecular ecologists. Molecular Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/mec.14792. 2018.
    • A top downloaded paper of 2019

  7. Schiebelhut, L.M., Puritz, J. B., and Dawson, M.N. Decimation by sea star wasting disease and rapid genetic change in a keystone species, Pisaster ochraceus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1800285115. 2018.

  8. Puritz, J. B., and Lotterhos, K. E. Expressed Exome Capture Sequencing (EecSeq): a method for cost-effective exome sequencing for all organisms with or without genomic resources. Molecular Ecology Resources. DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.12905. 2018.

  9. Puritz, J. B., Keever, C. C., Addison, J. A., Barbosa, S. S., Byrne, M., Hart, M. W., Grosberg, R K., Toonen, R. J. Life history predicts past and present population connectivity in two sympatric sea stars. Ecology and Evolution. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2938. 2017.

  10. Willis, S. C., Hollenbeck, C. M., Puritz, J.B., Gold, J. R., Portnoy, D. S. Haplotyping RAD loci as an efficient method to characterize and filter paralogs and manage linkage disequilibrium. Molecular Ecology Resources. DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.12647. 2017.

  11. Puritz, J. B., Portnoy, D. S., Gold, J. R. Fine-scale partitioning of genomic variation among recruits in an exploited fishery: causes and consequences. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/srep36095. 2016.

  12. Selkoe, K.A., D’Aloia, C. C., Crandall, E. D., Iacchei, M. I., Liggins, L., Puritz, J. B., von der Heyden, S., Toonen, R. J. A decade of seascape genetics: contributions to basic and applied marine connectivity. Marine Ecology Progress Series. DOI:10.3354/meps11792. 2016.
    • Feature Article

  13. Portnoy, D. S., Puritz, J. B., Hollenbeck, C. M., Gelsleichter, J., Chapman, D., Gold, J. R. Selection and sex-biased dispersal in a coastal shark: the influence of philopatry on adaptive variation. Molecular Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/mec.13441. 2015.

  14. Gold, J. R., Willis, S. C., Renshaw, M. A., Buentello, A., Walker, Jr., H. J., Puritz, J. B., Hollenbeck, C. M., Voelker G. Phylogenetic relationships of tropical eastern Pacific snappers (Lutjanidae) inferred from mtDNA sequences. Systematics and Biodiversity. DOI:10.1080/14772000.2015.1078857. 2015.

  15. Puritz, J.B., Matz, M. V., Toonen, R. J., Weber, J. N., Bolnick, D. I., Bird, C. E. Comment: Demystifying the RAD fad. Molecular Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/mec.12965. 2014.
    • 2nd Most Accessed Paper for 2014-2015

  16. Puritz, J. B., Hollenbeck, C. M., Gold, J. R. dDocent: a RADseq, variant-calling pipeline designed for population genomics of non-model organisms. PeerJ. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.431. 2014.

  17. Puritz, J. B., Renshaw, M. A., Abrego, D., Vega, R. R., Gold, J. R. Reproductive variance of brood dams and sires used in restoration enhancement of spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) in Texas bays and estuaries. North American Journal of Aquaculture DOI: 10.1080/15222055.2014.920751. 2014.

  18. Toonen, R. J., Puritz, J. B., Forsman, Z.H., Whitney, J. L., Fernandez-Silva, I., Andrews, K. A., Bird, C. E. ezRAD: a simplified method for genomic genotyping in non-model Organisms. PeerJ. DOI:10.7717/peerj.203. 2013.

  19. Keever, C., Puritz, J. B., Addison, J. A., Byrne, M., Grosberg, R. K., Toonen R. J., Hart, M.W. Shallow gene pools in the high intertidal: Extreme loss of genetic diversity in viviparous sea stars (Parvulastra). Biology Letters. DOI:10.1098/rsbl.2013.0551. 2013.

  20. Andrews, K. R., Perrin, W. F., Oremus, M. Karczmarski, L., Bowen, B. W., Puritz, J. B., Toonen, R. J. The evolving male: spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) ecotypes are divergent at Y chromosome but not mtDNA or autosomal markers. Molecular Ecology. 10.1111/mec.12193. 2013.

  21. Barbosa, S., Klaten, S., Puritz, J. B., Toonen, R. J., Byrne, M. Very fine scale population genetic structure of sympatric asterinid sea stars with benthic and pelagic larvae: influence of mating system and dispersal potential. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. DOI: 10.1111/bij.12006. 2013.

  22. Puritz, J. B. and Toonen, R. J. Next-generation sequencing for high-throughput molecular ecology: a step-by-step protocol for targeted multilocus genotyping by pyrosequencing. Chapter in Methods in Molecular Biology: Microsatellites. Volume Editor: Kantartzi, S. K. Pages 89-99. 2013.

  23. Puritz, J. B., Keever, C. C., Addison, J. A., Byrne, M. Hart, M. W, Grosberg, R. K., Toonen, R. J. Extraordinarily rapid life history divergence between Cryptasterina sea star species. Proc. R Soc. B. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.1343. 2012.

  24. Puritz, J. B., Addison, J. A., Toonen, R. J. Next-Generation Phylogeography: the application of targeted next-generation sequencing of non-model organisms. PLoS One. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034241. 2012.

  25. Puritz, J. B. and Toonen, R. J. Coastal Pollution Limits Pelagic Larval Dispersal. Nature Communications. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1238. 2011.

  26. Toonen, R. J., Andrews, K. R., Baums, I. B., Bird, C. E., Concepcion, G. T., Daly-Engel, T. S., J Eble, A. Faucci, M. Gaither, M. Iacchei, J. Puritz, J. Schultz, D. Skillings, M. Timmers & B. Bowen. Defining boundaries for ecosystem-based management: A multispecies case study of marine connectivity across the Hawaiian Archipelago. Journal of Marine Biology. DOI: 10.1155/2011/460173. 2011.

  27. Keever, C. C., Sunday, J., Puritz, J. B., Addison, J. A., Toonen, R. J., Grosberg, R. K., Hart, M. W. Discordant distributions of populations and genetic variation in a sea star with high dispersal potential. Evolution. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00801.x. 2009.

  28. Haney, R. A., Dionne, M., Puritz, J. B., Rand, D. M. The comparative phylogeography of east coast estuarine fishes in formerly glaciated sites: Persistence versus Recolonization in Cyprinodon variegatus ovinus and Fundulus heteroclitus macrolepidotus. Journal of Heredity. DOI: 10.1093/jhered/esn107. 2008.

  29. Walker, A. N., Bush, P., Puritz, J. B., Wilson, T., Chang, E. S., Miller, T., Holloway, K., Horst, M. N. Bioaccumulation and metabolic effects of the endocrine disruptor methoprene in the lobster, Homarus americanus. Integrative and Comparative Biology. DOI: 10.1093/icb/45.1.118. 2005.

GRANTS AWARDED

Total funding = $2,290,153

Awards from the last five years

Year   Agency Amount to URI Project Total
2021   USDA- Agriculture Research Service
Population genomic evaluation of wild and cultured Eastern oyster populations from the Northeast region
PIs: Puritz and Proestou		 $250,000 $300,000
2021   National Science Foundation
How do multiple coastal stressors structure the genomic diversity of marine populations?
PI Puritz		 $680,898 $680,898
2020   National Science Foundation
EAGER: Development of a tool to rapidly and cost-effectively sequence the exome of any organism
PI Puritz		 $298,978 $298,978
2019   Rhode Island Sea Grant
How do multiple coastal stressors limit oyster recruitment?
PI Puritz		 $249,192 $373,809
2019   US Fish and Wildlife Service
Assessing Horseshoe Crab Population Structure within Southern New England
PIs: McManus, Ameral, and Puritz		 $80,435 $163,715
2019   Atlantic Coast Marine Fisheries Council
From Sequence to Consequence: Genomic Selection to Expand And improve Selective Breeding for The Eastern Oyster
Eastern Oyster Breeding Consortium; URI PIs: Puritz and Gomez-Chiarri		 $690,000 $4,363,092