by Alexandra Norelli To mark International Women and Girls in Science Day (February 11), I began rating some Women in Science displays I’ve seen around Oxford.  Despite being one of the oldest universities in the world, Oxford only started allowing women to graduate 104 years ago (link). That’s 80 years after the first woman graduated from Wesleyan College in the US. Before that, women were allowed to study and were integral in the university’s running but not recognized for their efforts. Oxford has many museums highlighting the research conducted there and the institution’s long academi ..read more

In our Research Highlights blog series, we debut newly published fisheries research by our women of fisheries colleagues. If you have research you would like to highlight and share with our readers, submit a nomination form here! This Month’s Research Highlight: Knaub J.L., M. Passerotti, L.J. Natanson, T. Meredith, and M. Porter. 2024. Vertebral morphology in the tail-whipping common thresher shark, Alopias vulpinus. Royal Society Open Science 11: 231473. Thresher sharks, sometimes referred to as “whiptail” sharks, are easy to identify due to their characteristic tail resembli ..read more

For this month’s Fish Sister profile, we are highlighting the inspiring Imani Black, the founder and CEO of Minorities in Aquaculture, and student at University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science! Imani Black is an African American oyster farmer with family ties to the waters of the Chesapeake Bay dating back 200 years. Imani is passionate about conservation and restoration and supporting underrepresented groups in the aquaculture industry. Through her non-profit, Minorities in Aquaculture, Imani has built a network for sustainable seafood education, career development, and eng ..read more

Thank you to everyone who has made our third annual Early Career Award possible! It was an amazing pool of applicants, and thanks to proceeds from the fisHER Adventure Classic and generous monthly recurring donations by Robert Campbell we were able to support one award this year! Learn more about our winner and how she will use the award below. If you are interested in supporting our initiatives and awards like this, consider a one-time or recurring monthly donation to Women of Fisheries (see our sponsorship page for details). Congratulations to Maité Duquela I was bor ..read more

In our Research Highlights blog series, we debut newly published fisheries research by our women of fisheries colleagues. If you have research you would like to highlight and share with our readers, submit a nomination form here! This Month’s Research Highlight: Harrison, S.E., and S.M. Gray. 2024. Effects of light pollution on Bluegill foraging behavior. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. Despite only covering approximately 1% of the Earth’s surface, freshwater ecosystems – including lakes, rivers, and wetlands – are home to about one-third of vertebrate species and 10% of all s ..read more

As we close out another year, stepping back to reflect on the accomplishments of 2023 gives us a well-needed perspective and provides inspiration for a new year of supporting women in the fisheries field. We are so glad you are part of our Women of Fisheries community working to move our collective mission forward. As we move forward through this post-pandemic world, we are reflecting on what initiatives have been most meaningful to our membership over the past five years and discussing how we can continue to evolve to meet our members’ needs. We are focusing on efforts that support ..read more

Attention all early career professionals! If you haven’t had a chance to apply for this year’s award, we are extending the deadline to January 17, 2024. With the help of money raised from our 2023 fisHER Adventure Classic, we will be able to offer one $250 award this year to an early career professional. Funds can be used to help with professional training, attending an upcoming professional conference, or even getting a professional outfit for your next interview. No matter the need, the Women of Fisheries is here to lend our support. Use the form below to creatively tell us a little bit abo ..read more

By Kimberly Bonvechio In our Research Highlights blog series, we debut newly published fisheries research by our women of fisheries colleagues. If you have research you would like to highlight and share with our readers, submit a nomination form here! This Month’s Research Highlight: Andres, Kara J., Timothy D. Lambert, David M. Lodge, Jose Andrés, and James R. Jackson. 2023. Combining sampling gear to optimally inventory species highlights the efficiency of eDNA metabarcoding. Environmental DNA 5:146-157. There’s a lot of buzz these days around the use of environmental DNA – or eDNA – for ma ..read more

Thank you for being a part of our Women of Fisheries community and participating in the FOURTH annual fisHER Adventure Classic this month! Without you, we would not be able to grow and expand our services for all women in fisheries. The fisHER Adventure Classic is our annual fundraising event to help support our initiatives such as future scholarships, awards, mentoring support, and planning for annual meetings. This fourth annual virtual event funds the Women of Fisheries Gives Back Award for early career professionals. This year, the event took place virtually from Octob ..read more

In fact, Women of Fisheries has been facilitating a book club since 2019! The goal of our book club is to engage our membership in great reads of books of interest and continue discussions about challenges and highlights of being in the fisheries field and as women in science in general. There is now a dedicated webpage devoted to the Women of Fisheries Book Club – check it out! The book club selects two books per year (one fiction and one non-fiction) and hosts virtual discussions. So far we’ve read 8 books (4 fiction, 4 non-fiction). They have ranged from books directly related to fisheries ..read more