Rate My Professor Joseph Pawlik

Joseph Pawlik is a professor in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), where he served as the Frank Hawkins Kenan Distinguished Professor of Marine Biology from 2017 to 2025. Joining UNCW in 1991, he has taught undergraduate courses such as Invertebrate Zoology and Biodiversity, while directing a productive research program that has mentored numerous undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. Pawlik earned his B.S. in Biology from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 1982 and his Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, in 1988. He conducted postdoctoral research at Friday Harbor Laboratories (University of Washington and University of Alberta, 1988-1990) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (1990-1991). Between 2003 and 2005, he served as Program Officer in the Biological Oceanography Program at the National Science Foundation.

Pawlik's academic interests center on marine chemical ecology, with a specialization in the ecology of sponges on Caribbean coral reefs. Together with his students and collaborators, he has authored over 170 peer-reviewed publications. Notable contributions include "The emerging ecological and biogeochemical importance of sponges on coral reefs" (Annual Review of Marine Science, 2020, co-authored with S.E. McMurray), "Chemical defenses and resource trade-offs structure sponge communities on Caribbean coral reefs" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2014, with T.-L. Loh), "A vicious circle? Altered carbon and nutrient cycling may explain the low resilience of Caribbean coral reefs" (BioScience, 2016), and recent works such as "Ecosystem engineers on tropical reefs in transition: Giant barrel sponges in the Anthropocene" (Journal of Experimental Biology, 2025). His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation for over 23 years, and he has acted as Chief Scientist on 13 UNOLS research vessel cruises from 1998 to 2013. Pawlik has received the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1991-1996), UNCW Graduate Mentor Award (2017), and UNCW Award for Faculty Scholarship (1999). Species honoring him include the mollusc Elysia pawliki (2016) and the ascidian Clavelina pawliki (2024). He has provided editorial service for Marine Ecology Progress Series and PeerJ.