Thomas More University, in collaboration with WAVE Foundation and Newport Aquarium welcomed Nick Whitney, Ph.D., on Thursday, March 7, as the spring 2019 lecture series speaker. Whitney has studied sharks in the wild for over 20 years. His research experience began by tracking sharks from a kayak, but evolved over time into using more advanced techniques like digital cameras, DNA sequencing, and even accelerometer tags to reveal the secret lives of sharks in the wild. These accelerometers (the same sensors found in smartphones and Fitbits) have been the basis for most of Whitney’s work over the last ten years and can reveal things about shark fine-scale movements, behavior, and energetics in the wild that scientists have wondered about for decades. Whitney’s worked has covered reef and tiger sharks in Hawaii, nurse sharks in the Florida Keys, and great white sharks in Cape Cod. He has published numerous scientific papers, shark articles for popular magazines as well as for World Book Encyclopedia Online. He has also appeared on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Channel. Whitney is currently a senior scientist with the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at New England Aquarium and is in residence at Newport Aquarium in Newport, Ky. He lives in Blue Ash, Ohio, with his wife and three children. Below are photos from the event, for information on upcoming lectures, contact Assistant Professor of Biology  Stephanie Snyder or Professor of Biology Chris Lorentz.