Austin Gallagher

Austin Gallagher is an American marine biologist and social entrepreneur, best known for his research on sharks and his role as founder and CEO of Beneath the Waves, a non-profit organization focusing on ocean conservation.[3] He is a National Geographic Explorer, has been the lead on more than 25 research and exploration expeditions, and his research has uncovered new species and behaviors, and has had an influence on policy for threatened species.[4][5] He was a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree in the science category.[6][7] He is a current fellow of the Explorers Club and a Fulbright scholar and distinguished professor.[8][9]

Austin Gallagher
Born
Boston
NationalityAmerican
CitizenshipUnited States of America
EducationUniversity of Miami, Northeastern University, Loyola University Maryland
Alma materThayer Academy
OccupationMarine biologist, entrepreneur
OrganizationBeneath the Waves, The Explorer's Club (fellow)
Known forConservation work
Board member ofEditorial board of the Endangered Species Research journal [1]
AwardsForbes 30 Under 30 list, 2016, Fulbright (distinguished professor)[2]
Websitewww.austingallagher.com

Early life and education

After graduating from Thayer Academy near his home city of Boston in 2004, Gallagher moved to Baltimore to attend Loyola University Maryland where he majored in biology and minored in journalism.[7] He then obtained a master's in marine science from Northeastern University in Boston as part of the Three Seas Program in 2010,[10] and went on to receive his doctorate in environmental science from the University of Miami in 2015.[11] He still maintains close affiliations at all three universities.

Career

Professional research

Gallagher is a broadly-trained biologist focusing on studying survival in marine animals.[12] He is a world authority on sharks,[13][14][15] conducting research aimed at advancing our understanding of their behavior and physiology, and using this information to create protected areas.[16][17] To date he has published over 65 peer-reviewed scientific articles, and he has presented his work at numerous institutions including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and National Geographic. He has been credited as being one of the first scientists to demonstrate that sharks were worth more alive for tourism than dead for fishing,[18] and has been at the forefront of tiger shark research. He completed his PhD from 2010-2015 at the University of Miami, where he published over 25 papers as a graduate student.[19] Gallagher completed a post-doctoral research program at Carleton University[20] with Dr. Steve Cooke, looking at the effects of stress on freshwater and coral reef fishes. In 2015 he led the first ever multi-national expedition to study sharks in Japan, which was featured as the cover story of the February 2016 issue of Outside Magazine[21] and covered by GoPro.

In 2016 he assumed the role of chief scientist at the conservation NGO Beneath the Waves and began building meaningful research partnerships. In 2017, he led the science on the BVI Art Reef,[22] a collaborative project with Sir Richard Branson that sunk a derelict WWII ship for the purposes of establishing an artificial reef to restore overfished species in the British Virgin Islands.[23][24] He also spearheaded a shark and fishing boat tracking initiative Global Fishing Watch,[25][26] in partnership with Oceana, Google, and SkyTruth. In 2018 he launched the NGO's most ambitious campaign focusing on understanding the benefits of shark sanctuaries, which has included an expansive focus in the Bahamas with dozens of partners and collaborating institutions.[27][28] The Bahamas work lead by Beneath the Waves has generated significant press and has been featured in Forbes,[29] Scientific American,[30] and on Sir Richard Branson's Virgin blog.[31]

Gallagher sits on the editorial board of the scientific journal Endangered Species Research.[32]

Television

Gallagher has appeared on the Discovery Channel shark week 2018 and 2019 and is an occasional contributor to Nat Geo Wild.

Entrepreneurship

Gallagher has helped activate Beneath the Waves into a variety of influential communities and pop-culture events, including Summit Series, the 1 Hotel, Tortuga Music Festival, and Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. He has worked with the Grand Isle Resort and Spa in Great Exuma, Bahamas, to expose visitors of the resort to hands-on shark tagging research, thus creating a sustainable business model for funding ocean research.[33] In 2017 he co-founded a beverage startup called Tempo,[34] which produces plant-based, functional, and clean beverages for the modern consumer, whose products are currently sold in Whole Foods Market in the midwestern United States.[35][36]

Awards

In 2016, Gallagher became the first American marine biologist to make the Forbes 30 Under 30 List, at the age of 29.[6] He was also the only conservation biologist on the list in 2016. He is also a member of the Forbes Non Profit Council. In April 2016 he was awarded the Loyola University Young Alumni Award, and in the same month he gave a TEDx talk in San Diego, California,[37] on facing your fears to change the world.

In 2019, Gallagher became a Fulbright distinguished professor.[9]

References
  1. https://www.int-res.com/journals/esr/editors/
  2. "2018-2019 American Fulbright Scholars".
  3. "Beneath the Waves: A Game-Changer to Shark Science in the Caribbean".
  4. "Shark Savers :: Sharks and Ecotourism". www.sharksavers.org. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  5. Gallagher, Austin J.; Hammerschlag, Neil; Shiffman, David S.; Giery, Sean T. (2014-05-28). "Evolved for Extinction: The Cost and Conservation Implications of Specialization in Hammerhead Sharks". BioScience. 64 (7): biu071. doi:10.1093/biosci/biu071. ISSN 0006-3568.
  6. "Forbes 30 Under 30 2016". Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  7. "Austin Gallagher, '08, makes Forbes 30 Under 30 list". Loyola U. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  8. "Meet Dr. Austin Gallagher, CEO of Beneath the Waves". Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  9. "2018-2019 American Fulbright Scholars".
  10. "Alumnus named to Forbes' '30 Under 30' list | news @ Northeastern". www.northeastern.edu. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  11. "First encounters of the close kind—with sharks". Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  12. "Dr. Austin Gallagher: Biologist and Entrepreneur". Austin Gallagher. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  13. "Shark Conservation is Gaining Momentum - But Are We Doing Enough? | Project AWARE". www.projectaware.org. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  14. "Are South Africa's great white sharks really 'dying out'?". Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  15. Shiffman, David. "Shark Riders Pose Threat to Conservation Gains Made with Diving Ecotourism [Slide Show]". Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  16. "Alert Diver | Shark: An Icon on the Rise". www.alertdiver.com. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  17. "Touching A Great White Is A Really, Really Stupid Thing To Do". Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  18. "Global Shark Currency" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-12-20.
  19. "Austin J. Gallagher Google Scholar". Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  20. "Dr. Austin Gallagher, Cooke Lab post-doctoral fellow, named to the Forbes Top 30 Under 30 for the Sciences". www.fecpl.ca. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  21. "Mark Healey is the Greatest Athlete You've Never Heard Of". 2016-02-29.
  22. "Home - British Virgin Island Art Reef | Scuba Dive | Environmental and Historical Conservation". British Virgin Island Art Reef | Scuba Dive | Environmental and Historical Conservation. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  23. Billock, Jennifer (2017-03-08). "New Caribbean Dive Site: A Ship That Survived Pearl Harbor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  24. https://plus.google.com/+travelandleisure/posts. "Richard Branson Is Transforming a Pearl Harbor Boat Into a Cool New Diving Spot". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  25. Mustain, Patrick (2017-11-13). "Fishing for Answers: How Marine Wildlife and Commercial Fishing Overlap". Oceana USA. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  26. Daley, Jason. "Scientists Search for the Most Dangerous Places to Be a Shark". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  27. CKelly (2018-02-20). "How entrepreneurs can (and must) come together to save the ocean". Virgin. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  28. Márquez, Melissa Cristina. "Beneath The Waves: A Game-Changer To Shark Science In The Caribbean". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  29. Márquez, Melissa Cristina. "A Holiday With Teeth: How You Can Help Sharks While On Vacation". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  30. Hettermann, Kristin. "Save the Sharks!". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  31. CKelly (2019-03-11). "The sanctuary model crucial for protecting sharks". Virgin. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  32. "Inter Research » Journals » ESR » Editors".
  33. Springer, Bill. "Bahamas Resort Offers Guests A Chance To Tag Sharks In the Wild (For Science)". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  34. "Product". Tempo Sparkling Tea. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  35. Gallagher, Austin. "Why Organizations Should Work With Beverage Brands (And How They Can Find Partnerships)". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  36. "The new playbook for smart corporate environmental responsibility programs". New Hope Network. 2018-02-12. Retrieved 2018-02-26.
  37. "Face Your Fears - Amazing Things Await". Retrieved 22 September 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.