Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
email: dbernal@umassd.edu, phone (508) 999 8307 (website: http://www.umassd.edu/faculty/diego.bernal/)

Positions held:
2005-Present: Assistant Professor. Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
2003-Present: Visiting Research Scientist, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
2002-2005: Assistant Professor. Department of Zoology, Weber State University. Marine Biology Advisor

Education:
B.S. - Biological Oceanography, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, 1995. Field of study: Biological Oceanography
M.S. - Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 2000. Field of study: Marine Biology
Ph.D. - Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, 2002. Field of study: Marine Biology

Teaching Experience:
Present: Assistant Professor, Department of Biology (Univ. Mass., Dartmouth). Courses taught: Animal Physiology, Shark Biology, Biology of Organisms I Laboratory
2002-2005: Assistant Professor, Department of Zoology (Weber State Univ.). Courses taught: Animal Biology, Principles in Zoology I, Fish Biology, Aquatic Ecology, Comparative Physiology.
Fall 2001: Adjunct faculty, California State University, San Marcos. Comparative animal physiology laboratory instructor.
Fall 2001: Adjunct faculty, Department of Biology, San Diego Mesa College. Oceanography lecturer.
Fall 2001: Adjunct faculty, Saddleback College. Oceanography lecturer and laboratory instructor.
1995- 2002: Lectured at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Actively involved in educational programs at the Birch Aquarium. Trained volunteers on shark natural history and biology, lectured to high school students competing in the National Ocean Science Bowl, and assisted with hands-on courses in shark anatomy and biology. Involved in the training and mentoring of undergraduate students during their research internships at Scripps and with the NSF-Undergraduate Research Experience Program. Mentored volunteer high school students that showed interest in science.

Awards and Honors:
1995: National Science Foundation, Research Experience for Undergraduates Fellowship, University of Texas Marine Science Institute
1996 – 1997: San Diego Fellowship, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. University of California, San Diego
1997: Honorable mention recipient, National Science Foundation, Predoctoral Fellowships Program
1997: Honorable mention recipient, Ford Foundation, Predoctoral Fellowships
1998 – 2001: Recipient, National Science Foundation, Predoctoral Fellowship Program

Grants:
2000 - 2001: NSF- IBN-0077502, Dissertation Research: Physiological and morphological specializations for high-performance swimming in the mako shark, Isurus oxyrinchus (Family Lamnidae)
2002-2004: RSPG, Weber State University: The application of molecular-physiological techniques for determining capture-related stress in angled fishes
2003-2004: Beishline Fellow: Using 2-dimensional high-resolution images to construct a 3-dimensional model of muscle distribution in high-performance swimming sharks
2003-2004: NSF IBN 00-91987 supplemental funding collaboration with Dr. Robert Shadwick, Scripps Institution of Oceanography: Muscle contractile properties in endothermic and ectothermic sharks
2003-2004: RSPG, Weber State University: Do high performance shark hearts show an enhanced biochemical capacity when compared to other less active sharks?
2005-2006: NOAA/UNH: Redesign of SPLASH satellite transmitting tags used for large, filter feeding, pelagic fishes
2006-2007: NOAA/UNH: Habitat utilization, movement patterns of porbeagle sharks (Lamna nasus) in the North Atlantic
2006-2009: NSF IBN 0617403: Collaborative proposal. The functional significance of divergent locomotor muscle designs in high performance fishes

Research Interests:
Comparative physiology of fishes, evolutionary physiology of features related to high-performance locomotion of fishes, physiological specializations of pelagic fishes, swimming energetics and thermoregulation, biochemical specializations of high performance animals.

Expeditionary Work:
1990: Marine fauna assessment, La Salina, Baja California, Mexico
1992: Benthic faunal assessments, Centro de Investigaciones Avanzadas Mérida, R/V Justo Sierra, Gulf of Mexico
1996-1999: Physiological and cardiovascular studies on pelagic sharks, National Marine Fishery Service, Shark Abundance Assessment Cruises, R/V David Star Jordan, R/V Yellowfin
1997: Physiological and morphological studies on pelagic sharks, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Shark Collecting Cruise R/V Gordon Sproul
1997-1999: Physiological, biochemical, and cardiovascular studies on pelagic sharks, California Department of Fish and Game, Shark Abundance Cruises R/V Mako
2000-2004: Physiological studies on salmon sharks, Prince William Sound, Alaska, F/V Legend
2003-2005: Physiological, biochemical, and cardiovascular studies on pelagic sharks, Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research R/V Mololo, R/V Little Mololo
2006: Haematological and physiological studies on pelagic shark, National Marine Fisheries Service, Shark cruise R/V Delaware II

National and International Meetings Attended:
1995: Estuarine Research Federation, Corpus Christi, Texas
1995: American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, San Diego, California
1996: Interdisciplinary Marine Science Research Center, La Paz, Mexico
1996: Symposium on Managing Highly Migratory Fish in the Pacific Ocean, Monterey, California
1996: Fisheries and Pollution, Bodega Bay, California
1998: Southern California Academy of Sciences, Pomona, California
1999: Society for Experimental Biology, Edinburgh, Scotland
2000: International Pelagic Shark Workshop, Pacific Grove, California
2000: American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, La Paz, Mexico
2001: Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Chicago, Illinois
2002: Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Anaheim, California
2004: Southern California Academy of Sciences, California State University, Long Beach, California
2005: Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, San Diego, California
2005: International Tuna Conference, Arrowhead, California
2006: Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, Orlando, Florida
2006: International Congress on Fish Biology, St. John's Newfoundland, Canada

Bibliography:
Bernal, D. & Whitledege, T.E. A study of nutrient uptake by the Texas Brown Tide using in-situ mesocosms, ERF, Corpus Christi, TX, November, 1995 (Abstract)

Bernal, D. & Graham, J.B. Possible effects of global change on the mako shark fishery, MFC, September 1996 (Abstract)

Bernal, D., Dickson, K.A. & Graham, J.B. Preliminary studies on the scaling of metabolic enzymes in the shortfin mako shark, Isurus oxyrinchus, SCAS, May, 1998 (Abstract)

Bernal, D., Dickson, K.A. & Graham, J.B. Mako shark scaling: metabolic enzymes, locomotor and myocardial muscle, and gill surface area, SEB, March, 1999 (Abstract)

Bernal, D., Dickson, K.A. & Graham, J.B. Temperature effects on mako shark locomotor muscle enzyme kinetics, ASIH, June, 2000 (Abstract)

Bernal, D., Dickson, K.A. & Graham, J.B. Convergence for high-performance swimming in lamnid sharks and tunas. Thermoregulation and metabolic biochemistry. Amer. Zool. 40:942-943

Bernal, D., Dickson, K.A., Shadwick, R.E. & Graham, J.B. (2001). Analysis of the evolutionary convergence for high-performance swimming in lamnid sharks and tunas. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 179:695-726.

Bernal, D., Sepulveda, C. & Graham, J.B. (2001). Water tunnel studies of heat balance in swimming mako sharks. J. Exp. Biol. 204:4043-4054.

Bernal, D., Sepulveda, C., Mathieu-Costello, O. & Graham, J.B. (2003). Comparative studies of high performance swimming in sharks: I. Red muscle morphometrics, vascularization, and ultrastructure. J. Exp. Biol.206, 2831-2843.

Bernal, D., Smith, D., Lopez, G., Weitz, D., Grimminger, T., Dickson, K.A. & Graham, J.B. (2003). Comparative studies of high performance swimming in sharks. II. Metabolic biochemistry of locomotor and myocardial muscle in endothermic and ectothermic sharks. J. Exp. Biol. 206, 2845-2857.

Bernal, D. & Sepulveda, C. (2005). Evidence for temperature elevation in the aerobic swimming musculature of the Common Thresher Shark, Alopias vulpinus. Copeia 2005:

Sepulveda, C., Wegner, N., Bernal, D. & Graham, J.B. (2005). Red muscle morphology of the thresher sharks (Family Alopiidae). J. Exp. Biol.208, 4255-4261.

Bernal, D., D., Donley, J.M., Shadwick, R.E. & Syme, D.A. (2005). Mammal-like muscles power swimming in a cold-water shark. Nature.437, 1349-1352.

Bernal, D., Cech, J.J., Roessig, J.M., Matsumoto, T., Sepulveda, C., & Graham, J.B. (in review). Thermal effects on blood oxygen-binding properties in endothermic and ectothermic sharks.

Cameron N.P, Bernal, D., Theilmann, R.J., Sepulveda, C.A., Graham, J.B., & Frank, L. R. (in review). The use of T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to quantify red myotomal muscle volume and geometry in the mako shark, Isurus oxyrinchus.

Hight, B.V., Holts, D., Graham, J.B., Kennedy, B.P., Taylor, V., Sepulveda, C.A., Bernal, D., Ramon, D., Rasmussen, R, and Lai, Chin, L. (in review). Plasma catecholamine levels as indicators of the post-release survivorship of juvenile pelagic sharks caught on experimental drift longlines in the Southern California Bight.