I earned my Ph.D. at Florida International University in the Predator Ecology & Conservation Laboratory, my Master of Arts in Marine Conservation & Policy at Stony Brook University, and my Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology at St. Thomas University in Canada. I fell in love with rays and sharks while at the Center for Marine Resource Studies in the Turks and Caicos Islands in 2012, later returning in 2015 during my Master’s to continue the photographic identification study of whitespotted eagle rays that tracked their movements around South Caicos. My SFS experiences kick-started my career in marine science.

In my 13 years as a Marine Conservation Scientist (some of that in-training), I worked collaboratively to publish 14 papers, protect more than 20 ray species from becoming part of commercial fisheries in Belize, raise more than $200K, expand marine protected areas for sharks, improve data quality for thousands of hours of underwater videos, analyze millions of rows of elasmobranch behavioural data, reach millions of people online through social media, and train hundreds of students and community scientists. I have led teams to achieve shared shark and ray management outcomes in the Caribbean and attempt the first rescue and rehabilitation of the Critically Endangered smalltooth sawfish in Florida. During my postdoc at Mote Marine Laboratory and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, I partnered with a Belize fishing community to co-design research that tracked stingray abundance and reduced shark catch.

Across natural history science, long-term monitoring, technological innovation, and big data, one lesson I first learned as an anthropologist has remained constant: conservation success relies on people – the relationships we build, ideas that are listened to and supported, quality of mentorship we provide, and prioritization of human wellbeing, livelihoods, traditions, and values.

In my current role as an Assistant Director at a biodiversity conservation non-profit, I continue to apply what I’ve learned about people and am proud to lead a talented team of data analysts to manage an extensive biodiversity database, biologists to accomplish terrestrial field monitoring of species at risk (SAR), and a social media assistant to communicate with the public. I steward Board and partner relations, strategize for the future, support research proposals and reports, and document and communicate organization policies to strengthen staff wellbeing and incorporate DEI principles into daily culture and practices. Occasionally, I get to wear my scientist hat, this year conducting bumble bee surveys with an Indigenous non-profit and analyzing abundance trends for an endangered endemic butterfly.

Check out my iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/people/elasmokflow

Read my publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=i5ys_N4AAAAJ&hl=en

Favorite SFS Memory: Falling in love with rays, diving, and working with Dr. Aaron Henderson.