Symposium keynote speakers

Carl G Meyer

Sharks and fishes live in a concealing environment making them very difficult to study in their natural habitats, yet understanding their behavioral ecology is vital for designing effective conservation strategies for these ubiquitous and important aquatic animals. Carl uses telemetry devices to study shark and fish movement behaviors. These devices range from well-established technologies, such as satellite and acoustic transmitters, to more recent innovations, such as tri-axial accelerometer-magnetometers and miniature cameras. Combining these technologies has provided exciting new insights into shark and fish behavior. Carl is also very interested in developing new technologies to fill important gaps in our understanding of shark and fish ecology. For example, his lab is currently developing a device capable of remotely detecting and recording feeding events in wild sharks and fishes. These prototype “shark pills” survive being eaten and regurgitated, can detect feeding events while inside the stomach, and can be found and recovered from open-ocean. This tool will provide a better understanding of the feeding patterns of wild sharks and fishes, which in turn will increase our understanding of the broader patterns of nutrient and energy flow through marine food webs.

Carl received his Ph.D. from University of Hawai‘i and is presently an Assistant Researcher at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology.

Michael Grace

Michael is a sensory neurobiologist interested in the neural mechanisms that underlie complex animal behavior. While trained in cellular and molecular neuroscience, molecular biology and physiology, his motivation stems from a deep love for the natural world and the ways in which animals collect, process and utilize information from the environment. His work centers primarily on vision and non-visual sensory systems and biological clocks that time daily changes in physiology and behavior. His lab studies vision in tarpon and related marine fish, snakes, turtles, and every now and then a mammal or two, including baleen whales. He also investigates the mechanisms of infrared imaging by pitvipers and pythons. His work is applied to conservation or to the development of novel biomimetic sensor technologies.

Michael earned a BS in Applied Biology from Georgia Tech, followed by MS and PhD degrees from the Emory University School of Medicine. He studied at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and held an NIH post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Virginia where he worked in the NSF Science & Technology Center for Biological Timing. He is currently Interdisciplinary Professor of Biological Sciences and Senior Associate Dean of the College of Science at the Florida Institute of Technology.

Euan Harvey

Euan’s research focuses on marine fishes and how physical (both natural and man-made) structures and oceanographic processes influence their composition and distribution. The effects of anthropogenic activities such as fishing, increases in sedimentation, climate change, increases in marine noise (e.g., seismic surveys) are areas of active research. He has conducted research into the nocturnal use of habitats by fishes and also how nocturnal fish assemblages compare inside and outside closed fisheries areas. This sampling has been done using baited underwater stereo-video systems using artificial lighting.

Euan received his Ph.D. from University of Otago and is presently a Professor at Curtin University in Australia.

Science advisory committee

Steven J Cooke

Steven's research spans freshwater and marine realms with a focus on the behavior and physiology of wild fish and other aquatic animals. He works along the entirety of the fundamental-applied continuum and is particularly well known for his work on fish migration (using biotelemetry and biologgers), conservation physiology, and fisheries interactions. He has studied diel patterns in depth distribution, energy use, and endocrine stress responsiveness in a variety of fish species.

Steven earned his B.ES. and M.Sc. at the University of Waterloo and his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois, and then became an NSERC and Killam Post Doctoral Fellow at the University of British Columbia. He is presently an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

Neil Hammerschlag

Neil's research centers broadly on the behavioral ecology and conservation biology of marine predators, but he also studies the nocturnal distribution and foraging behavior of fishes in mangrove and seagrass habitats. This includes evaluating predator-prey interactions at night when juvenile fishes are actively foraging on emerging prey, but also under risk of predators hunting at dark. Neil employs biotelemetry (satellite and acoustic tracking) to examine the nocturnal movement patterns and activities of predatory fishes.

Neil received his B.Sc. at the University of Toronto, his M.S. from Nova Southeastern University, and Ph.D. from the University of Miami. He is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Marine Ecosystems and Society at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.