With schools and universities closing for weeks or possibly months, many educators are struggling to adapt, and many parents find themselves unexpectedly home-schooling. Zoos, aquariums, and museums are also closing, with staff unsure how to continue with their important mission of informal public education. As an expert in remote public science engagement and education using online tools, I can help!

Some general things I can do to help are briefly outlined below. If I can help you or your team with any of these things, or if you have another thought on how I can help, please reach out (WhySharksMatter at Gmail).

Faculty colleagues/Universities/Academic Departments: I am available to give remote guest lectures to your class about my work and my career, or about specific topics related to marine biology, ocean conservation, fisheries management, human dimensions of wildlife, or public science engagement! This can help take some of the stress off of you, it’s one fewer lecture you need to rush to move online. I am also available to give remote seminars about my research for those of you switching your departmental seminar series to virtual rather than cancelling it. For both remote guest lectures and remote seminars I ask for a standard honorarium, but if your department doesn’t do that, no worries, I won’t turn anyone away due to inability to pay. And I am able to give my professional development training sessions remotely if your lab group or department or Postdoctoral/Grad student association is interested, for my standard fee for those training sessions.

Graduate students worried about the loss of a field season on your thesis projects: I have ideas of projects you can do from home, and I’m happy to chat with you and your supervisor. No charge for advice and suggestions, and I am available to get more involved in your projects if needed.

Zoos, aquariums, and museums looking for ways to still educate the public, or professional scientific societies looking for ways to engage your membership: I have lots of ideas and am happy to help. General tips and advice are free, or I am available for temporary hire to help coordinate your online public science engagement efforts.

Middle school and high school teachers who are still meeting remotely with your students: I am available to talk with them about my job, and/or about sharks, marine biology, or ocean conservation. No charge for public schools.

Parents who are unexpectedly home schooling: I am available to talk to your kiddos about sharks, marine biology, and/or ocean conservation. Due to high demand for this, unless you can arrange on your end to have me talking with several different groups of kids at once (each safely in their own homes of course), I’ll need to limit these to 20 minutes. No charge to parents, but if any of y’all are in a position where you’re able to contribute something I wouldn’t turn it down.

Interested in my help for any of these things? Please email me WhySharksMatter at gmail and we’ll see what we can do.

Are there any already-made distance learning resources? There are tons, here are some that I personally recommend. Most are shark or marine biology focused.

• The Sharks4Kids YouTube channel, which includes brief science lessons and interviews with scientists and conservationists. Other great YouTube channels include NOAA and NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer , the Monterey Bay Aquarium and their associated research arm, and BBC Earth.
• A free virtual marine biology “camp” from the Oceans Initiative
• NOAA has a lot of free educational resources and lesson plans, as does the Smithsonian. If you want shark-specific, Sharks4Kids and OCEARCH have great stuff.
• Every day at 10 a.m., the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy team is reading a kids book about sharks live on their Facebook page.
• The Washington, DC Environmental Film Festival has put many of their films online until March 31.
• There are so many wildlife webcams livestreaming from national parks, zoos, aqauariums, and more.
• My favorite ocean-themed Podcast, Speak up For Blue, has hundreds of episodes, including dozens of interviews with marine biologists and conservationists.
• Not shark specific, but Skype-A-Scientist is a great program that has recently expanded from just targeting school classrooms to reaching kids who are being temporarily home schooled.