We extend our heartfelt condolences to Scott’s family, his wife Vicky, his daughter River, and to his students, colleagues and friends.

Scott R. Santos, Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, died April 9, 2024. Dr Santos was 52

A native of rural Hawai`i, Santos was passionate about the biology and conservation of the brackish ponds he had explored since childhood. With its unique biodiversity and geographic isolation, Hawai`i has been the setting for many classic studies in biology. His recent research directly quantified the mystery of connectivity of Hawai`ian lava ponds. He has been recognized as one of the preeminent scholars of the biology of brackish ponds, including endemic Hawai`ian shrimp. 

While Santos was an accomplished researcher, faculty member and administrator, he was most proud of helping the next generation of scientists to be successful. Those that knew him best say his work ethic was unmatched and that his students adored him.

“He was a pioneer in his field, an exceptional scholar, a cherished colleague and mentor — his positive influence on the scientific community and on those fortunate enough to know him will be long-lasting and sorely missed,” says Derek Taylor, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.

“He had an uncanny ability to motivate students and mentees. For his entire career, even during his PhD at UB, he consistently made important technical breakthroughs in non-model systems,” Taylor adds. “It is no surprise that his scholarship resulted in a large scientific impact with so many (over 8,000) citations.”

Prior to joining UB in 2022, he was a faculty member at Auburn University for 17 years and served as chair of the Department of Biological Sciences.

Cissy Ballen, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn, calls Santos “a dedicated biologist and compassionate chair.”

“Scott’s enthusiasm was infectious, and as chair he always approached challenges with a positive attitude and a sense of humor,” Ballen says. “Even after he started his lab at UB, he remained a close friend and valued mentor for me and many others in our department. He will be remembered as a kind and generous leader, a talented scholar and a dear friend.”

Mary Alice Coffroth, professor emerita in the UB Department of Geology, notes that Santos “had that rare combination of curiosity, joy in figuring things out and skills to match his curiosity. He was unique in a very positive way.” 

“He was a student with me at a time when using molecular techniques to address ecological and evolutionary questions was in its infancy, making him one of those extraordinarily rare individuals who was equally conversant in both molecular and organismal biology,” Coffroth recalls. “As such, he developed molecular tools for his ecological research, as well as for molecular evolutionary questions.

“More importantly, Scott recognized the significance of his findings at both the molecular and organismal level, and worked to take them to the next level,” she adds. “His dissertation work made significant contributions to our understanding of the diversity of the dinoflagellate endosymbionts of corals and other cnidarians.”

For example, Santos established for the first time that the algal symbiont is haploid in the vegetative stage within the host. These data are important not only to our understanding of coral-algal symbioses, but to this enigmatic group of organisms in general.

He also developed a series of molecular techniques to differentiate these algal symbionts at both the genus and species level, a finer level of resolution than had previously been possible. 

In addition to his major focus on coral symbionts and anchialine shrimp, he was an excellent collaborator on other studies, including deep sea mollusks, bacterial lineages, annelids, fish and pitcher plants.

“His skills and knowledge, his innate fascination, a quick smile and an infectious laugh made an extraordinary combination,” Coffroth says. “He was at the forefront of multiple fields and, more importantly, a friend.”

When he wasn’t working, Santos was an avid Star Wars and Marvel enthusiast, a comic book collector, a loyal Foo Fighters fan and a novice weather data collector. He was a family man and enjoyed taking his daughter, River, to the zoo, supporting her teams, showing her around his lab and office, and imparting his vast scientific — and musical — knowledge.

Santos received a bachelor’s degree with distinction from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a PhD in biological sciences from UB. As a graduate student, he received a National Science Foundation/Monbusho Fellowship in 2000 to conduct research in Okinawa, Japan.

He is survived by his wife, Vicky, news content manager in the Office of University Communications; a daughter, River; his mother, Betty Santos; a brother, Alfred; a sister, Raina; and many friends and colleagues. He was predeceased by his father, Alfred Sr.

The obituary and information about services can also be found here. 

Empire Innovation Professor, 2022-2024
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Arts and Sciences

CONTACT
UB Department of Biological Sciences
109 Cooke Hall
Buffalo NY, 14260
Phone: (716) 645-2363
Email: BIOLSCI@BUFFALO.EDU

RESEARCH INTERESTS 
Microbial symbioses, microbial community structure and function, evolutionary biology, biodiversity and conservation, marine and freshwater ecology, bioinformatics.

RELATED LINKS

• Google Scholar
• Publons
• National Science Foundation BIO Advisory Committee
• National Science Foundation Science Nation Multimedia
• Research News: Hawaiian shrimp provide window into climate change

Education

• BS with Distinction, Zoology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1996
• PhD, Biological Sciences, University at Buffalo, 2002
• Postdoctoral Researcher, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, University of Arizona, 2004

Research Summary

Research in The Santos Lab utilizes a variety of molecular tools, computational approaches and field- and laboratory-based studies to examine the ecology, evolution, genetics, physiology, and symbiosis biology of a range of terrestrial and aquatic (both freshwater and marine) organisms, including host- and environmentally-associated microbiomes.

Microbiomes, representing the collective bacteria, archaea, protist, fungi and virus community living on or in individual organisms or in particular environments, are now recognized as having significant impacts on the development, health, and disease status of hosts or in ecosystem function. Since understanding phenomena like the mechanistic basis between individuals’ genotypes and phenotypes or nutrient cycling and energy flow through environments requires consideration at multiple levels of biological complexity, this should include interactions with, and the organization of, microbiomes.

Selected Publications

• See complete list (2000 - current) on Google Scholar.
• Carpenter, A., W.B. Bryant, S.R. Santos, R.J. Clem. (2021) Aedes aegypti mosquitoes infected with midgut-attenuated Sindbis virus exhibit reduced disseminated infection. Journal of Virology. 95:e00136-21.
• Glass, J.R., S.R. Santos, J.S.K. Kauwe, B.D. Pickett, T.J. Near. (2021) Phylogeography of two marine predators, giant trevally (Caranx ignobilis) and bluefin trevally (Caranx melampygus), across the Indo-Pacific. Bulletin of Marine Science. 97:257-280. (Featured Article).
• Santana-Pereira, A., M. Sandoval-Powers, S. Monsma, J. Zhou, S.R. Santos, D. Mead, M. Liles. (2020) Discovery of novel biosynthetic gene cluster diversity from a soil metagenomic library. Frontiers in Microbiology. 11:585398.
• Hoffman, S.K., K.W. Seitz, J.C. Havird, D.A. Weese, S.R. Santos. (2020) Invited SICB Symposium Contribution: Phenotypic comparability from genotypic variability among physically structured microbial consortia. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 60:288-303.
• Weaver, R.J., B.K. Gonzalez; S.R. Santos, J.C. Havird. (2020) Red coloration in an anchialine shrimp: molecular mechanisms, genetic variation, and candidate genes. The Biological Bulletin. 238:119-130. (Featured Cover Article).
• Havird, J.C., E. Meyer, Y. Fujita, R.C. Vaught, R.P. Henry, S.R. Santos. (2019) Disparate responses to salinity across species and organizational levels in anchialine shrimps. Journal of Experimental Biology. 222:jeb211920.
• LaJeunesse, T.C., J.E. Parkinson, P.W. Gabrielson, J.H. Jeong, J.D. Reimer, C.R. Voolstra, S.R. Santos. (2018) Systematic revision of the Symbiodiniaceae highlights the antiquity and diversity of coral endosymbionts. Current Biology. 28:2570-2580. Recommendation on F1000Prime.
• Santos, S.R., M.A. Coffroth. (2018) Protist Citation Classics: Revisiting "Genetic Diversity of Symbiotic Dinoflagellates in the Genus Symbiodinium". Protist. 169:784-787.
• Thornhill, D.J., E.J. Howells, D.C. Wham, T.D. Steury, S.R. Santos. (2017) Invited Reviews and Syntheses: Population genetics of reef coral endosymbionts (Symbiodinium, Dinophyceae). Molecular Ecology. 26:2640-2659.
• Havird, J.C., S.R. Santos. (2016) Invited SICB Symposium Contribution: Developmental transcriptomics of the Hawaiian anchialine shrimp Halocaridina rubra Holthuis, 1963 (Crustacea: Atyidae). Integrative and Comparative Biology. 56:1170-1182. (Featured Cover Article).
• Santos, S.R. (2016) Chapter 23: From one to many: the population genetics of cnidarian-Symbiodinium symbioses. Book chapter in Springer volume "The Cnidaria, past, present and future. The world of Medusa and her sisters" Eds. Goffredo, S. & Dubinsky, Z. pg. 359-373.
• Havird, J.C., R.C. Vaught, D.A. Weese, S.R. Santos. (2015) Reproduction and development in Halocaridina rubra Holthuis, 1963 (Crustacea: Atyidae) clarifies larval ecology in the Hawaiian anchialine ecosystem. The Biological Bulletin. 229:134-142.
• Vaught, R.C., J.C. Havird, S.R. Santos. (2014) Genetic lineage and environmental conditions as drivers of chromatosome variation in the anchialine shrimp Halocaridina rubra Holthuis 1963 (Atyidae:Decapoda). Journal of Crustacean Biology. 34:647-657.
• Havird, J.C., S.R. Santos, R.P. Henry. (2014) Osmoregulation in the Hawaiian anchialine shrimp Halocaridina rubra (Crustacea: Atyidae): expression of ion transporters, mitochondria-rich cell proliferation, and hemolymph osmolality during salinity transfers. Journal of Experimental Biology. 217:2309-2320.
• Thornhill, D.J., Y. Xiang, D.T. Pettay, M. Zhong, S.R. Santos. (2013) Population genetic data of a model symbiotic cnidarian system reveal remarkable symbiotic specificity and vectored introductions across ocean basins. Molecular Ecology 22:4499-4515. (Featured Perspectives Article).
• Weese, D.A., Y. Fujita, S.R. Santos. (2013) Multiple colonizations lead to cryptic biodiversity in an island ecosystem: comparative phylogeography of anchialine shrimp species in the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. The Biological Bulletin 225:24-41. (Featured Cover Article) Editor's Pick Sept. 2013.
• Santos, S.R., D.A. Weese. (2011) Invited Contribution: Rocks and Clocks: Linking geologic history and rates of genetic differentiation in anchialine organisms. Hydrobiologia. 677:54-63.