Breea Govenar

Fogarty Life Science (FLS) 252 (401) 456-9631 bgovenar@ric.edu

Curriculum Vita

View Dr. Breea Govenar's CV

Academic Background

Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University

Courses Taught

BIOL 109 Fundamental Concepts of Biology
BIOL 321 Invertebrate Zoology
BIOL 460 Biology Senior Seminar
FYS 100 Symbiosis

Research Interests

Community ecology and ecosystem function in marine and deep-sea habitats, including hydrothermal vents; causes and consequences of species diversity; trophic ecology and food web dynamics; evolution and diversity of invertebrates

Selected Publications

• Govenar, B. (2010) Shaping Vent and Seep Communities: Habitat Provision and Modification by Foundation Species in “Vent and Seep Biology”, Steffen Kiel, Ed.


• Govenar, B. and C.R. Fisher. (2007) Experimental evidence of habitat provision by aggregations of Riftia pachyptila at hydrothermal vents on the East Pacific Rise. Marine Ecology 28: 3-14.


• Gollner, S., J. Zekely, B. Govenar, H.L. Nemeschkal, N. Le Bris, C.R. Fisher, and M. Bright. (2007) Tubeworm-associated permanent meiobenthic communities from two chemically different hydrothermal vent sites on the East Pacific Rise. Marine Ecology Progress Series 337: 39-49.


• Le Bris, N., B. Govenar, C. Le Gall, and C.R. Fisher. (2006) Variability of physico-chemical conditions in 9°50’N EPR diffuse flow vent habitats. Marine Chemistry 98: 167-182.


• Govenar, B., N. Le Bris, S. Gollner, J. Glanville, A.B. Aperghis, S. Hourdez and C.R. Fisher. (2005) Epifaunal community structure associated with Riftia pachyptila in chemically different hydrothermal vent habitats. Marine Ecology Progress Series 305: 67-77.


• Govenar, B., M. Freeman, D.C. Bergquist, G.A. Johnson, and C.R. Fisher. (2004) Composition of a one-year old Riftia pachyptila community following a clearance experiment: insight to succession patterns at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Biological Bulletin 207: 177-182.


• Govenar, B. (2012) Energy transfer through food webs at hydrothermal vents: linking the lithosphere to the biosphere. Oceanography 25(1):246–255, http://www.tos.org/oceanography/archive/25-1_govenar.html