Wade�s broad research interests are in the ecological processes of community structure on coral reefs, particularly concerning recruitment dynamics of coral organisms.� For his dissertation research, he will attempt to address a question of considerable concern for conservation purposes both within the Florida Keys and Caribbean region as a whole: What are the processes leading to relatively low recruitment rates for most broadcast-spawning corals, such as the Montastrea annularis species complex and the Acroporids, versus a select few spawners with moderate to high recruitment levels in particular locations, such as Montastrea cavernosa and Siderastrea siderea, respectively.� A considerable number of hypotheses from many studies have been put forth as potential causes for recruitment limitation, such as reduced reproductive effort; fertilization failure in the sea (e.g., Allee effects); reduced larval quality and/or mortality during the planktonic larval phase (e.g., UV, salinity stress, chemical pollutants); lack of appropriate settlement sites (e.g., limited crustose coralline algae, space preemption by macroalgae); and post-settlement mortality (e.g., corallivory, excessive sedimentation).� Of these potential causes, Wade will focus on the issue of fertilization failure as a key determinant of settlement potential.� To accomplish this goal, he intends to combine spatially-explicit simulation modeling with empirical analyses of the reef benthos.��

Wade received a B.S. in Biology (Ecology option) and minor in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Penn State University in the spring of 1999.� He then entered the graduate program at the University of Colorado in the fall of 1999, where he studied urbanization impacts on grassland bird populations for his Masters degree.� After defending his Masters thesis in the spring of 2002, Wade entered the graduate program at the University of Miami, RSMAS, to begin his Ph.D. training in coral reef ecology.