Meet the Female Research Team at Georgia Aquarium

The United Nations adopted the International Day of Women and Girls in Science to promote gender equity and equal access in the scientific community.

Join Discovery in celebrating the scientific contributions of the women researchers at Georgia Aquarium and all over the world.

February 11, 2022

By: Discovery and Georgia Aquarium

Related To:

Shop This Look

Photo By: Addison Hill

Photo By: c/o Georgia Aquarium

We’re celebrating International Women and Girls in Science Day by recognizing the incredible women researchers working at Georgia Aquarium.

These women have dedicated their careers to studying our ocean.

These women are promoting change that will protect and preserve the species that rely on our ocean’s ecosystems.

Georgia Aquarium’s female-lead research team travels to Bimini, Bahamas to study sharks. They take biological samples from tiger sharks, blacktip sharks, and more to understand their diets, metabolism, and other important factors.

The data collected during these research trips to the Bahamas have also helped the Georgia Aquarium research team learn more about the role microplastics play in the health of our ocean and sharks.

Dr. Lisa Hoopes, director of research and nutrition at Georgia Aquarium, is seen here taking blood samples from sharks in Bimini. Blood samples are an excellent source to study.

Understanding the biology of sharks and the important role they play help advance conservation efforts. Sharks are an apex predator and without them, the entire balance of the ocean ecosystem will go off balance.

Dr. Hoopes and her team study the sharks at Georgia Aquarium to create baseline data they can compare to the sharks they encounter in the wild. Including Bimini, this research team has recently studied sharks in the Galapagos and in the multiple estuaries around the Georgia coast.

Women represent 30% of all researchers. The Georgia Aquarium research team is a great example of women working together for the scientific advancement of not only our ocean, but the scientific community.

Dr. Kady Lyons, part of the Georgia Aquarium research team, is researching zebra shark genetics and possibly breeding pairs for a multi-institution project.