There are a number of opportunities for undergraduate students wishing to gain experience learning about and conducting research and sharks, rays, and other marine fishes. In fall semesters you can take a course dedicated to the biology of sharks and their relatives. In the summer you can take a summer field-oriented course where you will spend several weeks on boats studying sharks in the wild. During both fall and spring semesters, you can conduct research on some aspect of the biology of sharks or rays as part of a group taking directed research credits.

Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives
Fall semesters a course “Biology of Sharks and Their Relatives” – BIO 422 is offered at URI. This lecture course is open to upper-level students that covers a wide variety of aspects of the biology of sharks, skates, and rays. This is a 3-credit course.

Field Methods in Shark Research
During the first two weeks of August, a faculty-led program “Field Methods in Shark Research” is offered. The first week is spent fishing for coastal and pelagic sharks in Rhode Island waters and the second week is spent off Cancun, Mexico, swimming with and learning about whale sharks. This is a 3-credit course.

Directed Research
During the school year, students can sign up for directed research (BIO 491 and 492) for between 1-3 credits. Students taking BIO 491/492 credits have helped analyze data from acoustic tracking of lemon, tiger, and Caribbean reef sharks in the US Virgin Islands, from tagging and population monitoring of southern stingrays in the Cayman Islands, from satellite tracking of mako, tiger and oceanic whitetip sharks tagged in Bermuda, The Bahamas, Mexico, The Cayman Islands, New Zealand, Africa, and Australia, from tiger sharks captured in Hawaii fishing programs, from organ weights collected from mako and lemon sharks, and from reproductive studies on deep-sea sharks from New Zealand.

Field Work
A number of students have assisted with fieldwork on various shark research programs in the US Virgin Islands, Delaware Bay, and Bermuda as well offshore waters of southern New England during summer months.

Internships

Undergraduate shark research at URI has been supported by a number of internship programs, including:

• Coastal Fellows (http://web.uri.edu/coastalfellows/)
• Summer Undergraduate Research Fellows (http://web.uri.edu/rinsfepscor/surf/)
• Science and Engineering Fellows Program (http://web.uri.edu/cels/sef/)
• Bermuda Shark Project (http://www.bamz.org/conservation.php?id=3)