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Overview  UM undergrads & SFSSP team leaders gear up for sampling Neil Hammerschlag with the help of others (as cited in context) is currently implementing and co-directing local education programs in South Florida with students participating from South Broward High School (Broward, Florida), MAST Academy High School (Miami, Florida), Palmer Trinity High School (Miami, Florida) and the University of Miami (Miami, Florida). Students are being provided with practical, hands-on education and self initiated research projects, both in the laboratory and field. Opportunities are especially being made available to underrepresented (gender, ethnicity, disability) high school students. Research projects and training opportunities will be made available for graduate students.
The South Florida Student Shark Program (SFSSP)Overview & Goal Objectives  Measuring the Bonnethead Shark
Action  A shark swims off with a research tag Students conduct field trips to South Florida's Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park to study sharks, mangrove fishes and survey the marine habitat. Students collect fishes by deploying seine nets as well as survey, sample and tag sharks as part of an ongoing population dynamics study. Tissue samples from sharks are extracted non-lethally and non-invasively, which are used for eco-toxicological and genetic studies that students conduct themselves. As part of the program students participate in ocean engineering workshops where they construct and launch Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) fitted with cameras to observe and video sharks and fishes in the wild. Science  Surveying the mangrove & seagrass sampling sites of Biscayne Bay The results of the study will be analyzed and prepared by University of Miami students for peer reviewed scientific publication. Tagging efforts are being supported by Dr. Robert Hueter and John Tyminski in collaboration with Mote Marine Laboratory as part of their ongoing studies on the movements of Florida's coastal elasmobranchs. Population dynamic research is being overseen by Dr. David Die, professor of biology at RSMAS. Mangrove fish research is being conducted in collaboration with Dr. Todd Kellison and Joe Serafy of NOAA with the support of Biscayne National Park scientists Richard Curry and Max Tritt. Ocean engineering work and construction of ROVs is being conducted with engineer Bill Baxley. Dr. Dean Williams, RSMAS Professor and Geneticist, is leading genetic analyses and Dr. David Evers from the BioDiversity Research Institute, is overseeing all eco-toxicology work. All information collected is being incorporated in a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) map, directed by Dr. Maria Louisa Villanueva, a RSMAS professor. Demonstration  Students with Bonnethead Shark Students educate others about the issues they are addressing. The students will share project findings and engage in activities with students in other schools, local clubs and parks. Project participants will also present their findings to local Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs. Their civic involvement with community leaders will generate sustainable financial support and environmental awareness for improved policy decisions. The project will give students greater civic responsibility and empowers youth by giving them a voice to share an important issue to South Florida. In the program’s first year, preliminary research results and objectives were presented at two conferences: the Annual American Fisheries Society meeting in Lake Placid, New York in August and a NOAA Fisheries Meeting in Tallahassee, Florida in October. Additionally, on January 13, 2007, high school students from the SFSSP lead and presented at Biscayne National Park’s Annual Family Fun Fest, an event which nearly 300 people to learn about marine science in the Park. Collaborating Program Organizers and Leaders: The SFSSP is a partnership among the University of Miami, the Southern Florida Chapter of the Explorers Club, the NOAA Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center (LMRCSC), and The Herbert W. Hoover Foundation.
Students Study White Sharks in South Africa Students analyze shark data collected in the field In 2004, Neil Hammerschlag received a grant from the American Institute of Marine Studies and SeaStar Foundation to take 8 students and 4 teachers from South Broward High School's Marine Magnet Program to go to South Africa to study white sharks with Neil, R. Aidan Martin, Chris Fallows and Rob Lawrence. This unique expedition was in collaboration with ReefQuest Marine Projects as part of its ongoing research programs in South Africa. Prior to the expedition, students met once a week for three months to be trained in the necessary methodologies for study in the field. While in South Africa students were required to participate in the necessary research to document the social and predatory behaviors of white sharks. Three newspaper articles were written about the expedition and the PDFs can be downloaded here:
Upon returning from the expedition, under Neil's direction, the students produced a Geographic Information System (GIS) spatial-temporal map of the shark attacks they documented around Seal Island.  Click map to enlarge
 Student observing shark In addition, as part of the program, students created a website, "Florida Shark Tales," in order to disseminate the results of the expedition, to display the GIS map as well to discuss other issues important to the conservation of Floridian shark species.
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Miami Herald article: Shark Savior, September 2006