Minorities in Shark Sciences

We hope to advance the field of shark, ray and other marine sciences by challenging the status quo of underrepresentation of gender minorities from historically-excluded communities of color and the Global South and providing accessible and equitable pathways to research, conservation, and education. We hope to see representation of gender minorities from historically-excluded communities of color and the Global South in shark, ray and other marine sciences is the norm rather than the exception. At MISS, we aim to help any gender minority of color, K thru Grey, pursue their dream of being a marine biologist or shark scientist. We define a gender minority of color as a person who: (1) identifies as woman, trans, non-binary, two spirit and/or gender fluid and (2) as Black, Indigenous and/or of color, and/or comes from a community in the global south. For K-12 we offer a variety of camps and online content to get children interested in and exposed to marine science at a young age. For 18+ individuals we offer fully funded fellowships, scientific workshops, conference travel awards, mentorship, and more.