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 R. Aidan Martin
is the Director of the
ReefQuest Centre for Shark Research, a Research Associate of the
Zoology Department of the University of British Columbia, and an Adjunct
Professor of the Oceanographic Center of Nova Southeastern University.
Aidan is
internationally recognized as an expert on shark biology and behavior.
He has studied elasmobranch fishes (sharks and rays) for over 30 years
in some 40 countries or island states. His main areas of research are
the evolution, phyletic relationships, functional morphology, life
history, behavioral ecology, distribution, and conservation of
elasmobranchs. Aidan’s current research topics include:
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Predatory and social behavior
of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) at Seal Island,
South Africa (with Neil Hammerschag, Chris Fallows, Ralph Collier,
and Kim Rossmo)
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Life history, ecology, and
behavior of blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus)
at North Male Atoll, Maldives (with Chris Harvey-Clark and staff of
Banyan Tree Maldives Marine Lab)
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Body language and social
organization of tropical Indo-Pacific reef sharks
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Shark and ray ecotourism and
marine protected areas as mechanisms for elasmobranch conservation
(with Phil Dearden, University of Victoria)
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Learning and foraging ecology
of dasyatid stingrays at North Male’ Atoll, Maldives (with Alexandra
Barron, Banyan Tree Maldives Marine Lab)
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Application of knowledge of
shark behavior toward reduction of
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Ecology and conservation of
sharks in Panama (with CSI Fellow
Carlos G. A. Ormond)
 Aidan is author
or co-author of 17 scientific papers in the primary literature, author
of two books, Shark Smart: the Divers’ Guide to Understanding Shark
Behaviour (1995) and Field Guide to the Great White Shark
(2003), and 130 popular articles on various aspects of marine ecology
and conservation, which collectively have been published in eight
languages; he is currently working on a scholarly book about shark
behavior for Cambridge University Press.
Aidan teaches “Biology
of Sharks and Rays” as a graduate-level on-line course through the
Oceanographic Center of Nova Southeastern University. He sporadically
teaches a field course on shark behavior and leads selected research
expeditions on behalf of
ReefQuest Marine Projects. Aidan supervises the thesis projects of a
few graduate students and takes on one or two student interns each year.
Aidan also gives slide-illustrated talks on various aspects of his work
to students and interested groups as often as public demand and his
schedule will permit.
Aidan has a
long commitment to marine conservation. In June 1995, he gave the
Keynote Address at the United Nations in New York on regulating
coral reef ecotourism in the Indo-Pacific region. He has organized
international scientific symposia on the biology of deep-sea
cartilaginous fishes and the biology and conservation of freshwater
elasmobranchs. Aidan is an active member of several international
research, conservation, and education organizations, including the
American Elasmobranch Society, European Elasmobranch Association,
Shark Trust, Physiology Section of the American Fisheries Society,
International Ecotourism Society, and National Marine Educators
Association. He was recently nominated for Fellowship in the
Explorer’s Club, New York.
Email:
a.martin@conservationinstitute.org
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