David Shiffman

Remote Protests are visually impressive, but not as effective as public comments

January 7, 2016January 2, 2016 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

On January 1, 2016, the Southern Fried Science central server began uploading blog posts apparently circa 2041. Due to a related corruption of the contemporary database, we are, at this time, unable to remove these Field Notes from the Future or prevent the uploading of additional posts. Please enjoy this glimpse into the ocean future while we attempt to rectify the situation.

Yesterday, tens of thousands of people’s avatars teleported into the lobby of the National Marine Fisheries Service headquarters in Plaza. Most avatars wore a temporary skin that made them appear to be fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, or sharks. Almost all of them of them carried signs protesting the newly-announced shark fishing quota , which greatly increases total allowable catch for scalloped hammerhead sharks. This was the latest remote protest effort organized by the new, but undeniably augemented reality- and media-savvy, Ocean Conservation Solutions , which also designed all of the custom avatar skins.

Last summer, I predicted that this change to the quota would come. There’s no doubt that scalloped hammerhead sharks have greatly increased in population in the decades since they became the first shark species listed on the U.S. Endangered Species Act (as regular readers now, there are now 18 shark species and 43 batoid species on listed under the ESA). Despite concerns raised by conservationists (including myself), it seems that NMFS’ plan to allow a low-level of fisheries exploitation for hammerheads did indeed allow for overfished populations to rebuild. The newly reauthorized Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation Act, just like every previous iteration, requires that NMFS allow fisheries for any species whose populations can support them.

Meet the Elasmobranch Society diversity scholarship winners

December 30, 2015January 1, 2016 David Shiffman

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The American Elasmobranch Society is the world's oldest and largest professional association of shark and ray scientists — The American Elasmobranch Society is the world’s oldest and largest professional association of shark and ray scientists

This summer, the American Elasmobranch Society announced a new diversity initiative.We were thrilled to receive over 100 applicants to our Young Professional Recruitment Fund! Of these:

67% were female
64% were not citizens of the United States, and citizens from 30 countries applied
33% were from an ethnicity other than white/Caucasian, with a plurality (15%) of Hispanic/Latino descent
26% are the first in their family to get a higher education

We were able to award the scholarship, which covers the cost of a one year Society membership in addition to providing specialized mentorship, networking, and professional development training, to 31 applicants!

Our awardees come from all over the world, and specialize (or are training to specialize) in a variety of research techniques. In the coming weeks, we will begin professional development, mentorship and networking discussions on the AES website forums and Facebook page. All members of the Society are welcome to participate in these discussions and training sessions (though some will be specific to the unique needs of underrepresented minorities in the sciences), and all are encouraged to welcome our new members and answer their questions when possible. Below, we’ve included a photo of each awardee as well as a section of their application essay.

How I decide whether or not to give an interview to a journalist

October 28, 2015October 28, 2015 David Shiffman 16 Comments

Uncategorized

I’m quite selective about what journalists/ publication I’ll agree to an interview with, as well as what topics I’ll agree to speak about. I turn down ten or so interviews for every one that I agree to give, though I will often recommend alternative experts for journalists to interview.

First and foremost, if I don’t have time, I won’t do a media interview. My primary job is to focus on my Ph.D. research so I can finish and graduate. If it means helping a friend or taking advantage of an amazing opportunity for exposure, I may be able to reshuffle around some time, but that’s only for exceptional circumstances. Similarly, I’ll generally only do interviews before or after work, while I’m in the car between campus and home, or during my lunch break, because my main job comes first.

Frequently asked questions about sharks (and about me)

October 27, 2015 David Shiffman

Blogging

Every week on twitter (and every few weeks on my Facebook fan page,) I host a one hour “ask me anything” session. I also give lots of interviews to the press, and occasionally answer high school students’ questions about what my job is like for class projects. Some of the same questions tend to come up over and over. Here are some frequently asked questions and my answers to them. Feel free to quote anything on this page for a class project or media article and attribute it to me.

1. What is your job?

A: I am a Ph.D. candidate and research assistant at the University of Miami. “Candidate” vs. “student” means that I passed my qualifying exams, an important test for graduate students. Research assistant means that my funding comes from doing research and not teaching. Depending on my audience, I’ve also described myself as a marine biologist, a shark researcher, an ecologist, a conservation biologist, a science communicator, or simply a scientist.

OceansOnline: How can internet tools help marine scientists and conservationists?

October 20, 2015 David Shiffman

Blogging

IMCC Next summer’s 4th International Marine Conservation Congress will include an optional full day add-on called OceansOnline. This add-on day, inspired by 2013’s successful ScienceOnline Oceans, will focus on how social media and other internet tools can help ocean scientists and conservation professionals with research, collaboration, and public outreach.

OceansOnline is suitable for total beginners who want to learn how to use these tools as well as advanced users who want to learn much more about their applications. Scientists and professionals who are advanced users of internet tools are encouraged to attend this meeting even if ocean conservation biology is not your primary research specialty.

OceansOnline will consist of three types of events: workshops, presentations, and facilitated discussions:

Contribute to science communication research, take the Southern Fried Science reader survey!

October 19, 2015 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

We have partnered with Dr. Paige Brown Jarreau, a science communication researcher, to create a survey of Southern Fried Science readers. By participating, you’ll help contribute to scientific understanding of blogs and blog readership. You’ll also get some free science art from Paige’s photography, as well as chances to win a t-shirt and other prizes. … Read More “Contribute to science communication research, take the Southern Fried Science reader survey!” »

Watch my Nerd Nite talk, “everything I needed to know in life I learned from a shark”

October 12, 2015October 12, 2015 David Shiffman

Science

On Thursday, October 8th, I presented at Nerd Nite Miami. A YouTube link to view my talk, “everything I needed to know in life I learned from a shark,” can be found below. CAUTION: the talk contains some NSFW language. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D7XJreU-Ao&feature=youtu.be Thanks to Ta-Shana Taylor for filming my talk!

Applications now open for the Elasmobranch Society’s new diversity in marine science initiative

September 16, 2015September 16, 2015 David Shiffman

Science

The American Elasmobranch Society, the world’s oldest and largest professional society focusing on the scientific study and management of sharks and their relatives, is now welcoming applications for the Young Professional Recruitment Fund, our new diversity initiative. Awardees will be given one year of Society membership, in addition to specialized professional development training, mentorship, and networking opportunities specific to their needs as international or historically underrepresented minority scientists and professionals.

To be eligible for the Young Professional Recruitment Fund, applicants must fill out the application below and demonstrate that they:

Thanks for buying David Shiffman (A.K.A. me) a less ugly pair of sunglasses!

August 21, 2015 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

In April, Andrew introduced the “Buy David Shiffman less ugly sunglasses” crowdfunding campaign, a campaign which included several amazing donor perks like 3D printed megalodon teeth. All funds raised in excess of the cost of a new pair of prescription sunglasses would go towards ongoing shark conservation research and outreach projects. After a month of campaigning, we raised $2,440 from 92 donors!

Once the funds had been transferred, I spent an extremely amusing afternoon at my neighborhood LensCrafters asking the staff and customers (along with my Facebook fans and twitter followers) to vote on which pair of sunglasses I should get. A few days later…. my new, improved, less ugly sunglasses arrived in the mail:

28 quotes, facts and graphs from the new UN global use of shark products report

August 2, 2015August 27, 2015 David Shiffman

Conservation, Science

The United Nations Food and Agriculture organization just released fisheries and agriculture technical paper number 590, “the state of the global market for shark products.” Coauthored by legendary shark conservation researcher Shelley Clarke, this 196 page document is a comprehensive look at, um, the state of the global market for shark products.

It includes an updated review of threats to sharks and the conservation and management mechanisms that governments are used to protect them. If you’re interested in shark conservation, you should read it. If you’re interested in shark conservation but don’t want to read a 196 page technical document, I’ve selected 28 important quotes, facts, and graphs from the report. These are organized into the following four categories (categories which can be used as a TL;DR summary of the entire report):

A) The global trade in shark meat is growing and is significantly different from the fin trade (despite not getting anywhere near the same attention from conservation activists and the media as the fin trade).

B) Many, many countries other than China are involved in the global trade in shark and ray products (despite not getting anywhere near the same attention from conservation activists and the media as China).

C) Many species and populations of skates, rays, and smaller sharks are highly traded (despite not getting anywhere near the same attention from conservation activists and the media as larger, charismatic species).

D) Global trade is complex, and we need a lot more data from governments of shark fishing and trading nations to effectively track trends in shark product use (i.e. science and record-keeping are critical for conservation, and not all important conservation work is glamorous or exciting).