David Shiffman is a Ph.D. student in UM’s Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy. He’s been named as a finalist in the 2011 blogging scholarship for his online conservation advocacy and science education. If he wins, David will be awarded with $10,000 to support his shark conservation research.
The final decision comes down to votes–he’s currently winning, but his lead is disappearing quickly!
If you’d like to cast your vote for David, please visit http://www.collegescholarships.org/blog/2011/11/18/2011-blogging-scholarship/. You can vote once per day until noon (Pacific time) November 30.
With his award, David will be able to further is dissertation work, which focuses on the ecological importance of sharks to coral reef ecosystems. It will be used to support his lab’s citizen science program, which has taken over 1,000 high school students and teachers into the field to learn about sharks and participate in an active research program. Additionally, David plans to adopt a satellite tagged shark in the name of the readers of Southern Fried Science, which will be followed on Google Earth.
