Alain Durán, Ph.D., is an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and a researcher in the Institute of the Environment at Florida International University. He co-manages the Tropical Marine Ecology Laboratory at FIU.
He obtained his Ph.D. in biological sciences from Florida International University. For his dissertation, he studied the drivers of plant-herbivore interactions on Caribbean coral reefs (Florida, Cuba, and The Bahamas) and their impact on ecosystem resilience. Dr. Durán currently focuses on the ecology, conservation, and restoration of coral reefs, mainly on herbivores' ecological roles and the dynamic and composition of cryptic coral reef macroalgal assemblages (e.g., turf-forming species and crustose coralline algae).
He completed his master's degree in biological sciences at Florida International University under the supervision of Drs. Ligia Collado-Vides and Deron Burkepile. The master's research focused on fish herbivory and eutrophication as drivers of recruitment and community succession of coral reef macroalgae.
He earned his bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Havana and worked as research assistant at the Institute of Oceanology under the distinguished ichtiologist Dr. Rodolfo Claro. The position entailed fish surveys across all marine ecosystems on the Island.
He has a courtesy appointment as an associate professor in the Marine Research Center, University of Havana.