KESLEY GIBSON TO SPEAK AS PART OF UT MARTIN ACADEMIC SPEAKERS PROGRAM

KESLEY GIBSON TO SPEAK AS PART OF UT MARTIN ACADEMIC SPEAKERS
PROGRAM
MARTIN, Tenn. – Kesley Gibson, a Ph.D. candidate at the Center for Sportfish Science and
Conservation at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M
University-Corpus Christi, will present a seminar titled “Shark Ecology Studies in the 21 st
Century: Satellite Tracking Provides Insights to the Apex Marine Predator” at 6 p.m., Jan. 30, in
Watkins Auditorium, located inside the Boling University Center.
Gibson earned her Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Tennessee at
Martin in 2012, where she studied the evolutionary relationships within the Millipede suborder
Spirobolidea. She later received her master’s degree in environmental science in 2015 from Troy
University where, as the ALFA Research Fellow, she studied federally threatened freshwater
mollusks and their sensitivity to various toxicants lacking appropriate U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency water quality criteria.
Gibson’s research focus involves the migratory patterns and artificial reef habitat use of fish
species in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, including red snapper, king mackerel, cobia and
multiple shark species. She recently appeared in “The Lost Cage” episode of Discovery
Channel’s popular Shark Week 2017.
This presentation is part of UT Martin’s Academic Speakers Program, which annually features
top speakers who meet with students from UT Martin Honors Programs and offer presentations
to the public.
For more information contact Dr. Lionel Crews, co-director, UT Martin Honors Programs, at
731-881- 7436 or by email at lcrews@utm.edu. The complete list of 2017-2018 speakers is
available online at utm.edu/departments/honors/events.php.