Rate My Professor Joseph Pawlik

Pawlik's academic interests center on marine chemical ecology, with a specialization in the ecology of sponges on Caribbean coral reefs. Together with his students and collaborators, he has authored over 170 peer-reviewed publications. Notable contributions include "The emerging ecological and biogeochemical importance of sponges on coral reefs" (Annual Review of Marine Science, 2020, co-authored with S.E. McMurray), "Chemical defenses and resource trade-offs structure sponge communities on Caribbean coral reefs" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2014, with T.-L. Loh), "A vicious circle? Altered carbon and nutrient cycling may explain the low resilience of Caribbean coral reefs" (BioScience, 2016), and recent works such as "Ecosystem engineers on tropical reefs in transition: Giant barrel sponges in the Anthropocene" (Journal of Experimental Biology, 2025). His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation for over 23 years, and he has acted as Chief Scientist on 13 UNOLS research vessel cruises from 1998 to 2013. Pawlik has received the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1991-1996), UNCW Graduate Mentor Award (2017), and UNCW Award for Faculty Scholarship (1999). Species honoring him include the mollusc Elysia pawliki (2016) and the ascidian Clavelina pawliki (2024). He has provided editorial service for Marine Ecology Progress Series and PeerJ.