Research team led by SMAST Professor Lauran Brewster wins NOAA grant for shark research

Brewster will lead a multi-institutional research team tracking harvest-prohibited shark species along the U.S. Atlantic coast

A research team led by UMass Dartmouth Assistant Professor Lauran Brewster at the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) recently received 2026 funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Competitive Research Program for research on how shark species prohibited from harvest in federal Atlantic waters use marine habitats along the U.S. Atlantic coast from New England to South Florida.  

This initial award of nearly $495,000 supports the first year of a 4-year project with total anticipated funding of just under $2 million.  

Double-tagging offers a new view of shark movement 

The project titled, "SanctSharks: Three-dimensional movement, habitat use, and activity level of prohibited sharks across U.S. Atlantic National Marine Sanctuaries and other conservation areas," will combine data from multiple electronic tag technologies to track sharks' movement, identify important habitats, and assess how effectively marine protected areas (MPAs) and National Marine Sanctuaries contribute to shark conservation efforts.  

Researchers will analyze existing tagging datasets for seven shark species (white, sand tiger, sandbar, dusky, bull, blacktip, and spinner) and use a high-resolution double-tagging approach on three harvest-prohibited shark species (white, sand tiger, and dusky), making this one of the largest collaborative shark tagging studies conducted in the Atlantic. By pairing acoustic transmitter tags and pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs), the approach provides complementary data streams that maximize the three-dimensional movement and habitat use information obtained from each tagged shark. "Sharks don't recognize the boundaries of protected areas, so understanding when and how they move within and between these areas is important for evaluating how well they contribute to shark conservation," Brewster explained. 

This project will also provide graduate students with the opportunity to participate in fieldwork and analyze electronic tagging data as part of their graduate research. They will gain experience working with large telemetry datasets and statistical models while collaborating with scientists from NOAA, the Smithsonian Institution, state agencies, nonprofit research organizations, and universities across the East Coast. 

Informing better shark conservation 

Sharks are a critical part of healthy marine ecosystems. However, some shark species remain vulnerable to overfishing, habitat degradation, and changing ocean conditions. While spatial protections are in place, their effectiveness for conserving highly migratory sharks remains poorly understood.  New insights about sharks' movement within and between National Marine Sanctuaries and MPAs will help to address those knowledge gaps. Ultimately, this research project will provide NOAA and other resource managers with actionable information to support fisheries and ecosystem-based management and shark conservation. 

Collaborative network of shark experts 

Leveraging expertise from institutions along the Atlantic coast, UMass Dartmouth SMAST researchers will lead regional tagging efforts for white, sand tiger, and dusky sharks and share telemetry data from the acoustic tags through the broader collaborative network.  

"It is incredible to see what can be done with this level of collaboration," said Beth Bowers, research ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. "We are combining efforts, resources, data and expertise to understand the ways in which sharks use these marine protected areas over broadscale migrations." 

Co-PIs include: 

• Bradley Peterson (Stony Brook University);  
• Gregory Metzger (South Fork Natural History Museum);  
• Gregory Skomal (Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries);  
• Megan Winton, PhD '24 (Atlantic White Shark Conservancy);  
• Beth Bowers and Matthew Ogburn (Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and Atlantic Cooperative Telemetry Network);  
• Matthew Ajemian (Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute);  
• Ryan Freedman (NOAA/Office of National Marine Sanctuaries);  
• Tobey Curtis, PhD '18 (NOAA/National Marine Fisheries Service) 

For more information, contact Dr. Lauran Brewster lbrewster@umassd.edu