At five or six years old, at a book fair, one book stopped Carlee Jackson-Bohannon cold: a shark book, cover alone enough to hook her on how many different species of sharks exist, in how many shapes and colours. That single moment set the course for a career. She went on to earn a master's degree in marine biology from Nova Southeastern University, where her graduate research examined how feeding tourism changes nurse shark behaviour in Belize, and to tag lemon sharks, bull sharks, and great hammerheads in the field. An appearance on National Geographic's Sharkfest led to an invitation to film at the historic Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas, and along the way she's talked about meeting ocean conservation icon Sylvia Earle over video call.
Throughout her master's and undergraduate programs, she was often the only Black woman in the room. In June 2020, she co-founded Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS) alongside Jasmin Graham, Amani Webber-Schultz, and Jaida Elcock, four Black women scientists building a support network and fully funded opportunities, camps, fellowships, and research programs, so financial barriers don't keep gender minorities of colour out of marine and shark science. She serves as the organization's Director of Communications.
Now the book fair kid is the one at the book fair. Jackson-Bohannon is the author of two children's books, Sharks: A Day in the Life, a 24-hour documentary-style tour through shark species from whale sharks to tiny epaulette sharks, and Green Sea Turtle, part of the Young Zoologist series. She runs hands-on shark-tagging demos for elementary students and signs copies of her own books, closing the loop on the exact moment that hooked her. In 2022, the Florida Marine Science Educators Association recognized her with its Justice, Equity, and Diversity and Inclusion Award. Her advice for the next kid who sees a shark book and feels that same pull: follow your passion, and don't let anyone tell you what you can't do.
Chapters:
0:59 – Andrew on Privilege and Representation in Marine Science
4:05 – The Book Fair That Started It All, Age Five
6:29 – The Only Black Woman in the Room
7:40 – Meet the Four Co-Founders of MISS
9:42 – Back at the Book Fair, Now Signing Her Own Books
Takeaways:
Carlee Jackson-Bohannon traces her career to a single shark book at a book fair when she was five or six years old.
She holds a master's degree in marine biology from Nova Southeastern University, researching how feeding tourism changes nurse shark behaviour in Belize.
Her field experience includes tagging lemon sharks, bull sharks, and great hammerheads, a National Geographic Sharkfest appearance, and filming at the Bimini Shark Lab.
In June 2020, she co-founded Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS) with Jasmin Graham, Amani Webber-Schultz, and Jaida Elcock, after being, in her own experience, often the only Black woman in the room.
MISS builds a support network for scientists of colour in shark research and fully funds camps, fellowships, and research programs to remove financial barriers to entry.
She is the author of two children's books, Sharks: A Day in the Life and Green Sea Turtle, and now runs the same kind of hands-on demos and book signings that first hooked her as a child.
In 2022, she received the Justice, Equity, and Diversity and Inclusion Award from the Florida Marine Science Educators Association.
Her advice: follow your passion, and don't let anyone tell you what you can't do.
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