Contact:
Biography:
Valerie is a Sarasota native who can credit much of her interest in sharks and rays to being raised around Mote Marine Lab. She joined staff in 2016 and is proud to be working directly towards shark and ray conservation on both a local and global scale. This work includes the husbandry and care of research elasmobranchs in the Marine Experimental Research Facility, assisting in lab and field studies, and utilizing genetics and video surveys to gain information that is vital to understand populations related to shark fisheries and trade.
Education:
B.S. in Biology, Saint Leo University
Current Publications
Raimundo Espinoza, Demian Chapman, Jack Morris, Sara N. Schoen, Valerie Hagan , Robert Hueter, Martin Soto, Rodolfo Abrams, Paola Sotomayor (2024). Characteristics and species composition of a small-scale shark fishery in Puerto Rico: Jurisdictional issues enable legal landings of prohibited and endangered species. Fisheries Research , 272, 106936. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2023.106936
J. Goetze, M. Heithaus, M. MacNeil, et al (2024). Directed conservation of the world’s reef sharks and rays. Nature Ecology & Evolution , 8, 1118–1128. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-024-02386-9
Simpfendorfer, C. A., Heithaus, M. R., Heupel, M. R., MacNeil, M. A., Meekan, M., Harvey, E., Sherman, C. S., Currey-Randall, L. M., Goetze, J. S., Kiszka, J. J., Rees, M. J., Speed, C. W., Udyawer, V., Bond, M. E., Flowers, K. I., Clementi, G. M., Valentin-Albanese, J., Adam, M. S., Ali, K., … Chapman, D. D. (2023). Widespread diversity deficits of coral reef sharks and rays. Science, 380(6650), 1155-1160. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade4884