Andrew is a post-doctoral researcher in North Carolina focused on population and conservation genetics in hydrothermal vent communities.



David is a graduate student in Florida. He studies the ecology and conservation of sharks.




Amy is a graduate student in North Carolina studying local ecological knowledge within small scale fisheries.



Chuck is a graduate student in North Carolina focusing on apex predators and how they interact with fisheries.




Lyndell is a graduate student in North Carolina, studying the feeding ecology of cownose rays.




Iris is a graduate student in Washington studying habitat use and feeding habits of juvenile Pacific salmon and herring in Puget Sound.



Michael is a graduate student in Maryland investigating the visual systems of mantis shrimp.



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What killed this lemon shark? University of Miami scientists perform necropsy to solve this mystery

Last week, volunteers monitoring a sea turtle nesting beach on Virginia Key came across a beached lemon shark. They called in scientists from the University of Miami’s RJ Dunlap Marine Conservation program, including myself . Dunlap program director Dr. Neil Hammerschlag decided to film the necropsy to use as an online teaching tool. The end result, edited together by Dunlap program multimedia specialist Christine Shepard, is below. Check it out to learn about the internal anatomy of a shark, as well as the process that scientists use to determine causes of death in marine organisms. If you have any questions about the process or about the animal, please leave them as comments below.

Shark Research with RJD: necropsy on mysteriously beached lemon shark from R.J. Dunlap Marine Conservation on Vimeo.