Brian R. Silliman, Rachel Carson Professor of Marine Conservation Biology

Please note: Brian has left the "Marine Science and Conservation Leadership" group at Duke University; some info here might not be up to date.

Brian Silliman is the Rachel Carson Distinguished Professor of Marine Conservation Biology. He holds both B.A. and M.S. degrees from the University of Virginia, and completed his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University. In recognition of his research achievements, Silliman was named a Distinguished Fulbright Chair with CSIRO in 2019; a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences in 2015; a Visiting Professor with the Royal Netherlands Society of Arts and Sciences in 2011; and David H. Smith Conservation Fellow with The Nature Conservancy in 2004.  He has also received several awards, including the Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Naturalists (2006), a Young Investigator Grant Award from the Andrew Mellon Foundation (2007), and a NSF Career Grant Award (2011). Dr. Silliman has published 21 book chapters and over 180 peer reviewed journal articles, and co-edited four books: Human Impacts on Salt Marshes: A Global Perspective (with T. Grosholtz and M. D. Bertness), Marine Community Ecology (with M. Bertness, J. Bruno and J. Stachowicz), Effective Conservation: Data not Dogma (with P. Karieva and M. Marvier) and Marine Disease Ecology (with D. Behringer and K Lafferty). His teaching and research are focused on community ecology, conservation and restoration, global change, plant–animal interactions, and evolution and ecological consequences of cooperative behavior.

Contact Info:

Office Location:	135 Duke Marine Lab Road, Beaufort, NC 28516
Office Phone:	(252) 504-7635
Email Address:
Division:	Division of Marine Science and Conservat

Teaching (Spring 2024):

• MARSCI 273LA.01, MARINE ECOLOGY Synopsis

  ML-Library TBA, MTuWThF 02:00 PM-04:30 PM; ML-Library TBA, MTuWThF 09:00 AM-11:00 AM

  (also cross-listed as BIOLOGY 273LA.01, ECS 374LA.01, ENVIRON 273LA.01, EOS 374LA.01)

• BIOLOGY 773LA-1.01, MARINE ECOLOGY Synopsis

  ML-Library TBA, MTuWThF 09:00 AM-11:00 AM; ML-Library TBA, MTuWThF 02:00 PM-04:30 PM

  (also cross-listed as ENVIRON 773LA-1.01)

• MARSCI 202.01, MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY Synopsis

  LSRC B101, TuTh 10:05 AM-11:20 AM

  (also cross-listed as BIOLOGY 271.01)

• MARSCI 350S.01, MARINE SCIENCE CONS. CAPSTONE Synopsis

  Grainger 1101, Tu 12:00 PM-02:30 PM

  (also cross-listed as ENVIRON 350S.01, PUBPOL 280S.01)

Education:

Ph.D.

Brown University

2004

Specialties:

ecology
conservation biology
marine science

Curriculum Vitae

Current Ph.D. Students  

• Liz Schrack  

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Gräfnings, MLE; Govers, LL; Heusinkveld, JHT; Silliman, BR; Smeele, Q; Valdez, SR; van der Heide, T, Macrozoobenthos as an indicator of habitat suitability for intertidal seagrass, Ecological Indicators, vol. 147 (March, 2023) [doi]  [abs]
2. Sievers, M; Brown, CJ; Buelow, CA; Hale, R; Ostrowski, A; Saunders, MI; Silliman, BR; Swearer, SE; Turschwell, MP; Valdez, SR; Connolly, RM, Greater Consideration of Animals Will Enhance Coastal Restoration Outcomes., Bioscience, vol. 72 no. 11 (November, 2022), pp. 1088-1098 [doi]  [abs]
3. Temmink, RJM; Lamers, LPM; Angelini, C; Bouma, TJ; Fritz, C; van de Koppel, J; Lexmond, R; Rietkerk, M; Silliman, BR; Joosten, H; van der Heide, T, Recovering wetland biogeomorphic feedbacks to restore the world's biotic carbon hotspots., Science (New York, N.Y.), vol. 376 no. 6593 (May, 2022), pp. eabn1479 [doi]  [abs]
4. Renzi, JJ; Shaver, EC; Burkepile, DE; Silliman, BR, The role of predators in coral disease dynamics, Coral Reefs, vol. 41 no. 2 (April, 2022), pp. 405-422 [doi]  [abs]
5. Thomsen, MS; Altieri, AH; Angelini, C; Bishop, MJ; Bulleri, F; Farhan, R; Frühling, VMM; Gribben, PE; Harrison, SB; He, Q; Klinghardt, M; Langeneck, J; Lanham, BS; Mondardini, L; Mulders, Y; Oleksyn, S; Ramus, AP; Schiel, DR; Schneider, T; Siciliano, A; Silliman, BR; Smale, DA; South, PM; Wernberg, T; Zhang, S; Zotz, G, Publisher Correction: Heterogeneity within and among co-occurring foundation species increases biodiversity., Nature Communications, vol. 13 no. 1 (March, 2022), pp. 1763 [doi]

• Silliman Lab