Research Interests

Dr. Cairns plans to continue working on the morphological taxonomy of the North Atlantic deep-water gorgonians in collaboration with Ted Bayer. He has published on the genus Chrysogorgia, has a manuscript submitted on Callogorgia, and is currently working on Narella. The plan is to work primarily on the calcaxonian genera, ultimately resulting in a revision of Deichmann's (1936) treatise. Bayer and Cairns are also working on a revision of the genus Corallium. Cairns will probably also continue to dabble in deep-water Scleractinia from time to time.