Student-Originated Studies (SOS): Biology of Sharks and Rays

This Student-Originated Studies (SOS) program will give students the opportunity to do intermediate or advanced work in vertebrate biology with a focus on the biology of elasmobranchs (sharks and rays). Weekly lectures during the first half of the quarter will familiarize students with the physiology, ecology, evolutionary history, and husbandry of sharks and rays. Students will seminar on several texts over the quarter that focus on the challenges of researching sharks in the field and keeping them in captivity. Over an intensive week in the middle of the quarter, students will study the anatomy and physiology of elasmobranchs in a series of anatomy labs.

Students taking the program for 12 credits will do an independent research project on a topic of their choice around elasmobranch conservation or husbandry and will be expected to do in-depth research in the primary literature to support this project. There will be time for students who want to do a project on elasmobranch husbandry to visit an aquarium of their choice to study the captive environment and the behavior of the animals in that environment.