School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000
E-mail: Demian.Chapman@stonybrook.edu
Dr. Demian Chapman is an Assistant Professor at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at Stony Brook University in New York. He is also the Assistant Director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science and head of the Institute's Shark Research Program. Dr. Chapman's research expertise lies in molecular biology and telemetry tracking, which he integrates to address research questions related to the dispersal and reproduction of sharks and rays. He is particularly interested in how shark reproduction and movements impact population dynamics, population genetic diversity and geographic population structure and their implications for conservation. Dr. Chapman is the author of more than thirty scientific articles and currently manages field research projects on sharks in Belize, the Bahamas, Panama and Florida. He is also a scientific advisor to the Pew Global Shark Campaign.
Debra Abercrombie
E-mail:
Debra Abercrombie is a professional marine biologist with over ten years’ experience working with sharks and shark fisheries. She also has two years of experience working for the Pelagic Observer Program, and worked as a Fishery Biologist for four years (as the database manager) for the Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Logbook Program, both at the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC) in Miami, FL. She has published peer-reviewed papers on the genetic identification of CITES listed and proposed shark species (white shark, hammerheads) and the global fin trade in leading journals such as Conservation Biology and Conservation Genetics. During the genetic testing of shark fins she was one of the discoverers of the fact that Chinese trade names for fins have high concordance with particular species, which implies that visual fin identification is possible. She also worked with the NOAA Office of Law Enforcement to genetically identify fins from prohibited shark species that were confiscated from commercial fishing operations in the Atlantic Ocean.
