College of Science

The basking shark receives protected status thanks to the work of a Mason PhD student

Colleen Rich — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 19:19:28 +0000

The basking shark receives protected status thanks to the work of a Mason PhD student Colleen Rich Tue, 10/04/2022 - 15:19

The basking shark is now a "protected wild animal" under new legislation that came into effect in Ireland this week. It is now an offense to hunt or injure them or to willfully interfere with their breeding or resting places, thanks to an international collaboration between United States, United Kingdom and Irish researchers, including George Mason University alum and current doctoral candidate Chelsea Gray.

Photo by the Irish Basking Shark Group

This legislation was heavily supported by the Irish Basking Shark Group (ISBG), an international network of researchers, educators, and community representatives founded in 2009. In 2021, this group organized an international consortium of scientists and conservation organizations to sign an open letter to the Irish government, calling for legal protection of basking sharks in Ireland. Simultaneously, the IBSG also ran a “Save Our Sharks” campaign, resulting in 12,000 signatures in support of this new policy.

U.S. representatives Alexandra McInturf, co-coordinator of the IBSG and a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University, and Gray have been working alongside their Irish and UK partners to conduct vital research for basking shark conservation.

“This is a great example of the importance of diversifying research methods and collaborating with as many people as possible,” said Gray, who is working on a PhD in environmental science and public policy at Mason. Her research on social attitudes helped demonstrate strong public support for basking shark conservation.

Chelsea Gray on the beach in Donegal, Ireland in 2018. Photo provided

McInturf has been conducting field studies on basking sharks in Ireland and recently published a study on the basking shark population along the U.S. West Coast. She believes international collaboration is critical to ensuring the persistence of this species worldwide.

“Basking sharks are highly mobile, capable of moving across entire ocean basins. In doing so, they pass through the jurisdiction of many different countries,” said McInturf, who also sits on the scientific steering committee for the SeaMonitor Project, an international research initiative designed to study basking sharks and other marine species. “It is estimated that Irish waters host 10-20% of the global population of this shark species year-round. Their presence in Ireland also appears relatively steady. This suggests that Ireland offers important habitat for the species.”

While shark tourism is popular worldwide, protections for sharks are often considered controversial because of perceived impacts to fisheries. In her research, Gray wanted to find out if there was any interest in basking shark tourism and if that impacted support for legal protections. In July 2018, Gray traveled to Donegal, Ireland, to interview local residents and tourists about their perspective on sharks and shark conservation.

Although basking sharks grow up to 7.9 meters (26 feet) in length, these slow swimming plankton eaters are generally harmless to humans. Gray said their docile nature and habit of feeding at the surface of the water make basking sharks an ideal candidate for shark-viewing, as they can be viewed from land or a boat, and many ocean-goers have had peaceful encounters with this type of shark.

Chelsea Gray diving with blue sharks off the coast of South Africa. Photo provided

Gray’s findings, which were the basis for her 2019 master’s thesis, showed that basking sharks are a potentially untapped tourism market and that there was widespread support for legal protections for basking sharks in Ireland. And her article, “Basking shark tourism in Donegal, Ireland—A case study of public interest and support for shark conservation,” was published in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems at an ideal time, as a member of the Irish Parliament had just introduced the legislation to protect the sharks.

“The IBSG has provided me the opportunity to take an active role in shark conservation and has shown me the challenge and reward of achieving conservation legislation,” said Gray, whose appreciation for sharks began in early childhood. “This new law is a major step forward in basking shark conservation, but this is only the beginning of a long road to crafting comprehensive, science-based marine policy. I am honored to be part of a group that continues to build key relationships and push for important changes.”

Topics

Students

College of Science

Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP)

Mason students help the environment with sustainability summer fellowships

Colleen Rich — Tue, 13 Sep 2022 14:33:15 +0000

Mason students help the environment with sustainability summer fellowships Colleen Rich Tue, 09/13/2022 - 10:33

Mason doctoral student Sri Saahitya Uppalapati takes questions following her virtual presentation on her work with Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action.

George Mason University doctoral and graduate students helped the environment, nonprofit organizations and the local community with summer projects through the Sustainability Summer Graduate Research Fellowships. This summer marked the first time Mason’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE) has offered the fellowship program.

Thanks to a unique collaboration between ISE and the Office of Graduate Education, eight student fellows received funding to research a variety of topics, including solid waste reduction strategies and helping Fairfax County’s goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions. A video presentation of their final projects can be found here.

“Our students were able to offer organizations and the community their cutting-edge research skills,” said Jeremy Campbell, ISE’s associate director of strategic engagement. “The students benefited from the fellowships by getting real-world experiences early on in their graduate careers and seeing their research make a difference.”

Campbell emphasized the importance of the partner organizations participating in the program and said that he planned to continue the summer fellowships, as well as further develop partnerships with local government entities, nonprofit organizations and other outside groups. He also said that students participating in the fellowship program were able to network in their field of interest.

All of the participating students except one are pursuing doctorates. The students came from a variety of study areas, including sociology and conflict analysis and resolution.

A chart from Mason doctoral student Shawn Smith's presentation.

Sri Saahitya Uppalapati, who is pursuing a PhD in communication in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, worked on building communications materials for Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action about the impact of the climate crisis on health in Virginia.

“It was inspiring to be surrounded by such dedicated and committed folks who truly care about the intersection of climate and health,” Uppalapati said.

Bradley Gay, a doctoral student in earth systems and geoinformation sciences in the College of Science, partnered with Blake Vullo, doctoral student in sociology in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, to work on Future Earth’s Global Food Program. Gay studied land use change using global remote sensing data analysis. The results of his study will help push for policy that is backed up by data, Gay said.

“I appreciated the chance to study something that I’m interested in that also will be hopefully extremely helpful in policy change,” Gay said. “It was a great opportunity.”

Other students and their projects included:

Arvind Geetha Christo, doctoral student in sociology, worked on conservation and environmental justice in South Asia, partnering with the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security program.

Ashton Rohmer, doctoral student in conflict analysis and resolution at the Carter School, tackled the sustainability aspects of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill with the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Stacy Lynn Yike, master’s student in environmental science and policy, looked at solid waste reduction strategies in the context of Fairfax County’s climate action plan with the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions.

Shawn Smith, doctoral student in environmental science and policy, researched air and water pollution, environmental health, and public policy, with the Sierra Club, Virginia Chapter.

Dhruv Deepak, doctoral student in sociology, worked on globally diverse forms of community-level sustainability paradigms as part of Future Earth’s Program on Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production.

Topics

Students

Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE)

Sustainability Research

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

College of Science

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Research

Graduate Education