Rate My Professor Mark Warner

Mark E. Warner is a professor in the School of Marine Science and Policy within the University of Delaware's College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment. He earned his Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Georgia in 1998, following a B.S. in Zoology from the same university in 1992 and participation in the East-West Marine Biology Program at Northeastern University in 1991. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship in plant biology at the University of Georgia, Warner joined the University of Delaware faculty in 2001, progressing from assistant professor to associate professor by 2013 and to full professor thereafter. His career includes leadership in research projects funded by federal agencies, such as NOAA-supported studies on coral reef monitoring, harmful algal blooms in Delaware waters, and heat-tolerant corals in regions including Fiji, Guam, and Florida. Warner has collaborated with interdisciplinary teams on ocean acidification effects and temperature influences on microalgae physiology.

Warner's research specializes in phytoplankton physiological ecology, reef coral physiology, algal-invertebrate symbioses particularly involving Symbiodiniaceae, harmful algal blooms, and climate change impacts including coral bleaching and ocean acidification. His investigations examine the physiological responses of reef-building corals and microalgae to environmental stressors, contributing to understanding of coral-algal mutualisms under thermal stress. With over 11,000 citations, his scholarship has shaped knowledge in marine ecophysiology. Notable publications include 'The roles of heating rate, intensity, and duration on the response of corals and their endosymbiotic algae to thermal stress' (2023), 'Thermotolerant coral–algal mutualisms maintain high rates of nutrient transfer while exposed to heat stress' (2023), 'High physiological function for corals with thermally tolerant, host-adapted symbionts' (2023), 'The Coral Bleaching Automated Stress System (CBASS): A low-cost, portable system for standardized empirical assessments of coral thermal limits' (2023), and 'Building consensus around the assessment and interpretation of Symbiodiniaceae diversity' (2023). In 2020, he was named a Fellow of the International Coral Reef Society for his contributions to coral reef biology and ecology. Warner has presented public lectures in series such as Lewes Ocean Currents and World of Discovery, and serves on committees including those related to health and safety in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment.