With over 90 publications, Dr. Eirin-Lopez has pioneered the application of epigenetic approaches to understand the relationship between marine organisms and their environment, helping establish the field of Marine Environmental Epigenetics.

Dr. Eirin-Lopez got his first independent faculty position in 2007 at the University of A Coruña (Spain), where he started the Environmental Epigenetics Lab. From that moment, his research goal has been focused to make fundamental contributions to the study of marine environmental epigenetics using molecular, ecological, and toxicological approaches. Dr. Eirin-Lopez’s Environmental Epigenetics Lab studies the role of epigenetic mechanisms

linking environmental changes to phenotypic responses in marine organisms. By doing so, his work facilitates a more holistic view of the drivers underlying phenotypic plasticity and organismal resilience during acclimatory and adaptive responses, and also provides better prediction and modeling of organismal responses to the challenges posed by Global Change.

In the E5 Coral project, the Environmental Epigenetics Lab focuses on corals’ chromatin structure.

Epigenetic regulation can take place through multiple mechanisms, many of them still unknown. In this project, the contribution of the Eirin-Lopez Lab is focused on fieldwork sampling as well as the study of epigenetic modifications altering chromatin structure and function.

The study of coral epigenetics and chromatin requires specific methods of sampling and preservation which are often challenging when performed in the field. Along with the lack of established protocols for these species, the study of coral chromatin represents one of the main challenges of the E5 Coral Epigenetics project.

Environmental Epigenetics Lab at E5 Coral

Dr. Juliet Wong

Postdoctoral Researcher

Epigenetic inheritance, phenotypic plasticity, transcriptomics, molecular recology.

Serena Hackerott

Graduate Student

Coral epigenetics, stress responses, restoration, global change.

Dr. Javier Rodriguez-Casariego

Dr. Javier Rodriguez-Casariego

Postdoctoral Researcher

Coral epigenetics, stress responses, restoration, global change.

The Environmental Epigenetics Lab investigates the cause-effect relationships between global change and the subsequent epigenetic mechanisms regulating phenotypic responses in marine life.

The research at the Environmental Epigenetics Lab involves state-of-the-art molecular, ecological, and evolutionary approaches to study how global change affects marine organisms, and the mechanisms modulating their responses at different levels. Dr. Eirin-Lopez has developed a highly collaborative and international research program addressing basic and applied questions in the fields of environmental epigenetics, evolutionary developmental biology, and marine sciences.