David Gruber
Dr. David Gruber is a marine biologist who uses extended-range SCUBA and Remote Operated Vehicle technologies to explore the deeper portion of the world’s coral reefs. His research focuses on photosynthesis and biofluorescence and his research team has discovered over 30 novel fluorescent proteins from coral reefs, including one that is responsive to phosphorylation. He is currently funded by the National Science Foundation to design and engineer a submersible specifically to study bioluminescence and biofluorescence of deep coral reefs. David is committed to communicating science to the general public. His writings have appeared in The New Yorker and The Best American Science Writing and he is the co-author of Aglow in the Dark: The Revolutionary Science of Biofluorescence (Harvard University Press, 2006). Gruber received his PhD in Biological Oceanography in 2007 from Rutgers Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences. He is an Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Science at Baruch College, City University of New York and Research Associate in Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History.