Debra Canabal, Ph.D.

Debra earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Science with a concentration in neuroscience at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. During graduate school, she went on her first shark dive in the Bay Islands of Honduras and immediately developed a passion and love for sharks. She began to focus her efforts on their preservation and joined Shark Research Institute as Director of Development.

In 2010 Debra started Epic Diving which uses ecotourism as a platform to aid in the protection of sharks. She does outreach in the local communities and schools and also started a scholarship program at Epic Diving which grants senior high school students a full tuition scholarship to the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute in Nassau. Debra believes ecotourism, research, awareness and education will lead to the conservation of sharks, and hopes to inspire a new outlook on sharks and the need for their protection.