Meet our Alumni! 

Tanner Anderson (MS, Dec 2017)

Tanner studied the efficacy of shark deterrents to keep sharks from being caught on commercial fishing gear. He employed a novel deterrent which reduced shark catch in coastal species by 60-80%.

Christine Bedore  (PhD, Aug 2013)

Chris studied the visual and electroreceptive systems of cownose rays that prey upon commercially important bivalves. She integrated comparative morphology with behavioral assays to determine the distribution of receptors and their sensitivity to biologically relevant stimuli including UV wavelengths. She is currently a post-doctoral researcher at Duke University. She completed a postdoc at Duke University and is currently a faculty member in the biology department at Georgia Southern University.

Eloise Cave (BS, Dec 2013: M.S., May 2017)

Eloise studied the tooth morphology of pelagic stingrays. She tested whether the pelagic rays display sexual dimorphism that corresponds with mating season. She subsequently did her M.S. studying the effects of environmental pollutants on the electrosensory and olfactory capabilities of elasmobranch fishes. She employed behavioral assays and elctrophysiological recording techniques. She is currnelty a Ph.D. student at Florida Institute of Technology. Eloise is currently a graduate student studying the impacts of environmental pollutants on the sensory functions of elasmobranchs.

Kyle Newton (Ph.D., Dec 2017)

Kyle tested whether elasmobranch fishes are truly magnetoreceptive and what mechanism they employ to detect magnetic fields. He combined comparative neuroanatomy with behavioral trials to determine how magnetic information is detected and processed. Kyle is currently a post-doctoral researcher at Washington University in St. Louis.

Anthony Cornett (MS, Dec 2006)

Anthony studied the ecomorphology of the electrosensory system in sharks. He examined the number, distribution and structure of the electroreceptors in a variety of taxa to determine how the electrosensory system is employed by sharks in different habitats with different foraging behaviors. Anthony is currently teaching at Valencia Community College in Kissimmee.

Theresa Gunn (BS, Dec 2013)

Theresa examined the color change in yellow stingrays. She tested whether stingrays change their skin color in response to different colored environments. Theresa is currently a graduate student at Georgia Southern University.

Lindsay Harris (MS, Aug 2013)

Lindsay studied electroreception in Amazonian freshwater stingrays. She determined how well these rays are able to detect prey-simulating electric fields in a high impedance freshwater habitat. Lindsay is currently a fisheries biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Laura Jordan (Ph.D., UCLA 2009)

Laura tested whether lanthanide elements can be used to decrease the by-catch of sharks in longline fisheries. She employed behavioral assays to assess the efficacy of metal to repel different shark species from baited hooks.

Walker Nambu (MS, 2019)

Walker studied how the social behavior of sharks is impacted by their group size. He employed a custom MatLab script to analyze aerial footage of sharks and determine school polarity and nearest neighbor distances.

Laura studied locomotion in batoids. She described the pelvic fin musculature, and quantified how various batoid species use their pelvic fins for a novel form of locomotion - punting. This also entailed morphometric and material properties testing of pelvic skeletal elements. Laura is currently an assistant professor in the Biology Department at Wheaton College.

Dave studied the effects of salinity on the electroreceptive capabilities of euryhaline elasmobranchs. His experiments determined that stingrays can effectively employ their electrosensory system for prey detection in marine, brackish and freshwater habitats. Dave is currently a PhD student at the University of Washington.

Michelle McComb (PhD, Aug 2009)

Mikki studied the visual system of several elasmobranch species. Using electroretinogram techniques she determined 3D visual fields, spectral sensitivity, and flicker fusion frequency of species that possess a unique head morphology, eye position, and behavioral ecology. She is currently Executive Director of Teens4Oceans.

Sara McCutcheon (MS, May 2012)

Sara tested the efficacy of lanthanide elements to deter sharks from biting at baited hooks. She measured the electric field generated by various elements and employed behavioral assays to quantify their effectivenes with different shark species. She is currently the education director at Nature's Academy in Bradenton, FL.

Tricia Meredith (PhD, Dec 2011)

Tricia studied the comparative morphology and physiology of the elasmobranch olfactory system. She employed electro-olfactogram recording techniques to determine the sensitivity of sharks and rays to a variety of pure amino acids and biologically relevant odorants. She is currently Assistant Program Director, Office for Undergraduate Research and Inquiry at FAU.

Jodi Miedema (BS, May 2007)

Jodi supervised the animal husbandry and organized the lab clerical work. She also assisted with electrophysiology experiments on visual and olfactory studies. She is currently employed at the Center for Shark Research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.

Dana Mulvaney (BS, Dec 2011)

Dana quantified the head morphology of skates to determine if they exhibit significant sexual dimorphism. She employed geometric morphometrics to describe the shape of the snout through all age classes from embryos to adults. She is currently employed at Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter.

Caitlin Shea-Vantine (MS, 2020)

Caitlin studied the puncture mechanics of stingray spines. She examined how the spine morphology impacted the puncture performance from different stingray species.

Kieran Smith   (MS, May 2013)

Kier conducted field trials to determine whether lanthanide elements are effective for deterring sharks from biting at baited hooks. He tested this by quantifying catch rate during long line fishing for coastal sharks. His work resulted in a patent for a novel shark repellent.

Laura Stinson (BS, 2019)

Laura studied the predator-prey interactions of great hammerhead sharks that prey upon blacktips. She used aerial drone footage to quantify predator-prey separation distance, escape velocity, and chasing behavior.

Ryan Stolee (MS, Dec 2021)

Ryan studied the fine-scale behavior of blacktip sharks that overwinter in southeast Florida. He deployed pop-off data loggers on the sharks to record environmental data which he used to determine when sharks are found at various depths and temperatures.

Shari Tellman (MS, May 2013)

Shari conducted an aerial survey of shark abundance in Palm Beach County waters. She counted the number of sharks close to shore from biweekly survey flights to quantify seasonal abundance.

Jordan Waldron (BS, 2019)

Jordan studied the seasonal abundance and spatial distribution of blacktip sharks in southeast Florida. She combed through aerial survey footage to count the sharks and determine when and where they are found in greatest densities along the coast.

Audrey Williams (MS, Aug 2005)

Audrey studied comparative morphology and sexual dimorphism of various batoid species. She employed geometric morphometrics to distinguish species and sexes. She is currently employed as a microbiologist with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services in Tallahassee.