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Dr. Catherine Macdonald

@drcatmac.bsky.social

Marine scientist and teacher Field School & University of Miami. Director of sharktagging. NatGeo Explorer. Shark & ray ecology, biology, conservation. She/her.

522 Posts10213 Follower603 Folgt
David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈@whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 2d ago

ICYMI, the longest-ever post on Southern Fried Science contains answers to 50 (ish) of the most commonly-asked questions about careers in marine biology, answered by me and a panel of experts. Please share! www.southernfriedscience.com/marine-biolo...

Marine Biology Career Advice

You asked us questions about marine biology careers, and our panel of experts answered them! In April, I solicited your questions about careers in marine biology, and we received nearly 100 questio…

southernfriedscience.com

Chuck “Charles” Bangley, PhD@dogfishwalker.bsky.social · 5d ago

Dusky sharks have been a prohibited species in US fisheries since 1999. These big adults are a sign that policy is working. A fully grown dusky shark can reach 14 feet in length and stand toe-to-toe with white sharks in the food web.

SharkScience@sharkscience.bsky.social · 5d ago

A New Apex Predator In Cape Cod Waters: Dusky Sharks Another Reason For Boaters, Swimmers To Be ‘Shark Smart’ 🦑🦤🐟🦈 www.capecodchronicle.com/articles/487...

Dusky shark - NOAA
Dr. Catherine Macdonald @drcatmac.bsky.social · last wk.

Thanks for this, because at least now I will have some idea what’s happening when someone inevitably asks me an otherwise incomprehensible question about this at a public talk.

Brett Favaro@brettfavaro.bsky.social · last wk.

@whysharksmatter.bsky.social I'm in a hotel room and one of the few channels is Discovery... and there's a show about how Great White sharks organize themselves into Game of Thrones-style Houses and they're telling me these Houses go to war with each other regularly

Save Our Seas Foundation@saveourseas.bsky.social · 2w ago

In Lunyuk, 96% of fishers are willing to release threatened bycatch if compensated for lost income. Yet, the true insight of the trial shows that when fishers don't absorb the financial blow of conservation alone, it opens a door that shifts local values towards a more sustainable future.

Changing fisher behaviour is challenging - it takes time for values to be embedded

Changing fisher behaviour sounds simple from the outside. We can design a rule, offer an incentive, or ask people to release threatened species. But in a small fishing community like Lunyuk, change is...

saveourseas.com

Dr. Catherine Macdonald @drcatmac.bsky.social · 3w ago

We need to collaboratively imagine alternatives: there are no transformative futures that just replicate existing logics, ethics, or power structures.

Angelo Villagomez@taotaotasi.bsky.social · 3w ago

"environmental justice scholarship suggests that a sustainable and equitable future may ultimately require reckoning with the market-liberal logics and hierarchies through which bourgeois environmental organizations and the global ocean governance system derive their present authority"

Dr. Catherine Macdonald @drcatmac.bsky.social · 3w ago

While the movie includes scarcely a lick of science, I think his performance captured some of the best things about being a scientist—the curiosity and wonder that drives us, the passion that sustains our work, and the thrill of discovery.

Miles Klee 🦉@milesklee.bsky.social · 3w ago

My privilege to share some lovely stories from the science community about what Sam Neill's timeless performance as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park meant to them—and why it will continue to inspire kids to chase their own discoveries for years to come.

Janet Hoek@janethoek.bsky.social · last mo.

Totally agree; my first three degrees (in English Literature, specialising in very early medieval poetry) are immensely useful in my role as a public health academic. Also a perfect complement to the many science papers I also studied. Learning to think is sadly under-rated!

Dr. Catherine Macdonald @drcatmac.bsky.social · last mo.

Students deserve to learn whatever they’re curious about, to explore and absorb without drawing a straight line to a marketable skill. I’m a marine scientist who took a class I absolutely loved in college on the Victorian Novel; it (and many other experiences like it) profoundly enriched my life.

Dr. Robin Bond, biogeochemist at a PUI 🧪@diygeochemist.bsky.social · last mo.

Exactly this. I tell students in my 200-level class that the number one skill they will learn is how to analyze complicated systems and solve thorny problems. They may not use the exact material I use to teach them those skills ever use again, but these skills will be useful forever.

Dr. Catherine Macdonald @drcatmac.bsky.social · last mo.

The students I least enjoy teaching are “just there for the degree”. In reality the credential matters MUCH less than the skills students gain through the process, but a lack of interest in and effort at the work of learning makes them difficult and disheartening to have in the classroom.

Dr. Catherine Macdonald @drcatmac.bsky.social · last mo.

The students I least enjoy teaching are “just there for the degree”. In reality the credential matters MUCH less than the skills students gain through the process, but a lack of interest in and effort at the work of learning makes them difficult and disheartening to have in the classroom.

Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis@jeffjarvis.bsky.social · 3mo ago

WTF, NYer. "If we agree that college primarily serves a credentialling process that stamps select young people as worthy of work..." We do not. So much for the bastion of erudite journalism. This is sensationalism, damaging our most vital institution: education. www.newyorker.com/news/fault-l...

Andy Radford@andyradford.bsky.social · last mo.

📢Super important new work led by #ECR @clemencywhite.bsky.social driving towards more positive, inclusive, safer #fieldwork experiences for all. doi.org/10.1093/ices... @profstevesimpson.bsky.social @drcatmac.bsky.social @drmjwitt.bsky.social @drjuliawester.bsky.social 🙏Please read & share

Past experiences can inform better practice for marine fieldwork

Abstract. Field-based research is a common component of marine science and many researchers cite field opportunities as a reason for pursuing a career in t

doi.org

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈@whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 2mo ago

My latest “organizations divers should know” column for SCUBA diving magazine is all about Field School, an inclusive marine science education organization I hire for all my field courses. They just celebrated ten years of operation! www.scubadiving.com/conservation... 🧪🦑🌎

The Inclusive Marine Education Org Divers Should Know

<p>Marine biology can be hard to break into, especially for historically underrepresented minorities. This inclusive and supportive marine biology education organization is here to help.</p>

scubadiving.com

Andrew D Thaler@drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 2mo ago

In 2017, I had to abandon ship. I was lost at sea. Caribbean fishermen, in the dead of night, risked their safety to pull me out of the ocean. Ever since the first illegal boat strike, I've been haunted by the betrayal of our duty to render aid and what it means for the safety of life at sea.

Andrew D Thaler@drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 2mo ago

It's Out! To rebuild trust in maritime policy, the US must ratify the Law of the Sea: thehill.com/opinion/nati...

c0nc0rdance@c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A 1995 scientific paper asks the important question: Do PIGEONS make good ART CRITICS? The answer: YES. Let's talk about art-smart pigeons who can tell a Monet from a Picasso & who can critique your kid's finger-paintings.

It's a pigeon in an art gallery, and there's a red scarf and oversized glasses on the pigeon. Behind it are some prints of photographs on the beige wall. The pigeon looks in the camera. Stealing this image from an IFL article on this, with my deepest apologies to the nice people who did the compositing. ORIGINAL: "Artists fear him. Image credit: Mabeline72/Nataliia K/MMD Creative/Shutterstock.com; modified by IFLScience"