Co-taught by Dr. Walt Golet & Dr. Ian Bricknell, this class allows students to spend some time at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center to expand their knowledge of shark and elasmobranch anatomy by looking at the evolutionary and comparative anatomy through the basic body plan of a shark. These students also dissect recently obtained highly migratory sharks in the Gulf of Maine as part of the assessment using their new skills to investigate an anatomical system in some detail and comparing it to what they saw and learned in the specimen dissection.” There is also an opportunity for students to take a trip offshore to deploy acoustic & conventional tags on sharks with Dr. Walt Golet and Matt Davis, a Marine Resource Scientist II from the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

During the summer, Dr. Golet, through the University of Maine, offers a 3 credit class through a collaboration with the Quahog Bay Conservancy for their summer internship program. While completing their internship at the Quahog Bay Conservancy, student interns participate in a wide variety of marine science modules/experiences where they gain first hand skills in the field. Further, each student intern was asked to choose a conservancy initiative to conduct an independent research project. In between their time on the water or at the oyster farm, the students produced a research paper and provided a formal presentation of their research throughout the summer in mid-August. As part of this class, student interns visited the Pelagic Fisheries Lab a few times to learn the process of sampling Atlantic bluefin tuna and how the tissues we collect are used in the assessment and management of this species and even went offshore with Dr. Golet & Matt Davis, a Marine Resource Scientist II from the Maine Department of Marine Resources, to apply electronic tags to sharks.