david shiffman | Southern Fried Science

One year of “Why Sharks Matter:” What’s different in shark science and conservation now?

One year ago today, my book “Why Sharks Matter: A Deep Dive with the World’s Most Misunderstood Predator” was released. Science moves (relatively) rapidly and changes often, with new discoveries every day, and the conservation landscape is similar. This means that it is impossible for anything written about these topics at a discrete moment in time to remain accurate forever.

So, in the interest of accountability, in the interest of continuing to make my book useful for public education about shark science and conservation even as the science and policy landscape changes, and in the interest of keeping notes for myself for any future updated versions of the book, I have been keeping track of things that I wrote at the time that are no longer true, or weren’t quite right at the time. (Please note that some of these facts and figures were already out of date at the time the book was pubished, but that was well after the final text was turned in).

A traumatic lead

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Andrew Thaler

David Shiffman remains in the lead for the 2011 Blogging Scholarship, but there’s been a shake-up over the last few days and a new challenger is climbing the ranks. Let’s make sure this upstart doesn’t climb much higher.

David after his first semester exams, eight years ago. Also, what I imagine he looks like after seeing the weekend shake-up.

An homage to greatness.

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Andrew Thaler

There are many faiths in the world, but the one truest and purest is David Shiffman’s faith in me. Yes, that is a shrine to the Southern Fried Scientist that David is kneeling before. The offering appears to be of the magnetic marine creature variety. I too am filled with faith, faith that our own David Shiffman is still in the lead. And faith in our readers to keep voting for him so that it will stay that way.

The shrine of the ancient mariner?

Confused? David is currently competing for a $10,000 blogging scholarship being decided by public vote. For every day David remains in the lead, I’m posting an embarrassing picture from his past.

What is seen cannot be unseen.

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Andrew Thaler

I extracted this picture from David Shiffman’s Facebook page, so I really don’t have any context for you. Please post your own captions and backstory in the comment thread. And don’t forget to Vote for David!

There are no words...

So Shiffman is a bit of a Blue Devils fan…

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Andrew Thaler

…by which I mean he bleeds Duke Blue. He’s also still maintaining a healthy lead in the 2011 Blogging Scholarship. Vote for him so it stays that way.

Basketball is like Barbecue, everyone thinks they have a team, but the only rivalry that matters is in North Carolina.

David Shiffman is not in the lead…

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Andrew Thaler

…and that needs to change. If you haven’t voted for David yet today, go vote now. You know you want to see hilariously embarrassing pictures of him. Until then, enjoy this semi-fictional mini-biopic of David’s love affair with the shark:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92yHyxeju1U

Blogging Scholarship – what’s in it for our readers

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Andrew Thaler

You love us, I know. You want to David Shiffman win a $10,000 scholarship to help fund his education. But clicking a link, then clicking a radio button, then clicking another link is a commitment. It requires work. You deserve to be rewarded for you efforts and I’m happy to oblige.

You see, I’ve know David for a long time. We were college roommates, a ground-breaking (pun intended) rock climbing team, dive buddies; we’ve co-authored papers together, coordinated local, national, and international marine education campaigns, and co-blogged (along with the incomparable Amy Freitag) at Southern Fried Science for what will soon be our 3rd year; I’ve spent hours training him to correctly use a well-placed semi-colon for comedic effect. Which is a long way of saying I have many, many embarrassing pictures of David Shiffman that I’m almost certain should never see the light of day.

So here’s the deal. David is currently in the lead. We want it to stay that way. We want you to want it to stay that way. For every day that David is in first place, I will free a picture from the archives, in increasing increments of hilarity. If he wins… well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Today, this guy has 7461 votes towards a scholarship:

Freshman year David wore this Star Trek costume more than is healthy. Seriously, I've got like 40 pictures of him dressed like this, and they're all from different events. The real question though: If he's such a Star Trek fan, why is he a red shirt?

UPDATED WITH NEW VOTING LINK

David Shiffman’s Greatest Hits

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Andrew Thaler

If you’re coming over from CollegeScholarships.org to check out some of David Shiffman’s work before voting for the 2011 Blogging Scholarship, welcome! Here are a selection of some of David’s influential, informative, and award-winning posts.

If you’ve never been to Southern Fried Science before and want to get an idea of who this Shiffman bloke is and what he’s about (hint: it has something to do with sharks), check out his two bench-mark posts:

Securing the Conservation of Sharks and Rays

Posted on October 10, 2011 by David Shiffman

At the 2nd International Marine Conservation Congress, Dr. Nick Dulvy and the IUCN Shark Specialist Group organized a special symposium called “Securing the Conservation of Sharks and Rays”. This symposium featured leading scientists, international policy experts, the founder of a creative non-profit, a National Geographic conservation photographer… and me. It was, without a doubt, the greatest professional honor of my (admittedly brief so far) career.