Ann Thomas Memorial Lecture Series Featuring Jasmin Graham

February 17, 2026
12:00pm - 1:00pm

Sharks Don’t Sink with Jasmin Graham Shark Scientist, environmental educator, and President/CEO of Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS), Jasmin Graham, will join us to share the uplifting story of a young Black scientist’s challenging journey to flourish outside the traditional confines of academia, inspired by her innate connection to nature’s most misunderstood animal—the shark.

About the Presenter: Jasmin Graham is a shark scientist and environmental educator who specializes in elasmobranch (shark and ray) ecology and evolution. Her research interests include human impacts and environmental disturbances on sharks and rays. She serves on the Board of Directors as well as the Equity and Diversity Committee for the American Elasmobranch Society. Jasmin was named the 2021 WWF Conservation Leader. She has a passion for science education and making science more accessible to everyone. She is project coordinator for the MarSci-LACE project, which is focused on researching and promoting best practices to recruit, support and retain minority students in marine science. Jasmin is the President and CEO of Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS), an organization dedicated to supporting gender minorities of color in shark sciences. She is excited to help open doors for more underrepresented minority students to join the exciting field of marine science.

Hear from Jasmin in this brief video:

Jasmin’s work encompasses the areas of science communication, social justice, outreach, education and conservation. She cares deeply about protecting endangered and vulnerable marine species, particularly elasmobranchs. She directed and hosted a series on PBS Terra called Sharks Unknown with Jasmin Graham, and has edited and contributed to several books with her own memoir, Sharks Don't Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist, coming out in summer 2024. She has been featured on "Dive In with Sylvia Earle" and "StarTalk with Neil DeGrasse Tyson" as well as several other podcasts and webinar series. 

Jasmin graduated from the College of Charleston in 2017 with a B.S. in Marine Biology and a B.A. in Spanish. She went on to receive her MSc. in Biological Science from Florida State University through the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program.

Featured Book: 

“Jasmin Graham has that winning combination of talent and grit needed to excel as a scientist. Every girl who wants to be a marine biologist should have this book.” —Hope Jahren, New York Times bestselling author of Lab Girl and The Story of More

Sharks have been on this planet for over 400 million years, so there is a lot they can teach us about survival and adaptability. For example: how do sharks, which unlike other fish are denser than water, stay afloat? They keep moving. When Jasmin Graham, an award-winning young shark scientist, started to feel that the traditional path to becoming a marine biologist was pulling her under, she remembered this important lesson: keep moving forward.

If navigating the choppy waters of traditional academic study was no longer worth it, then that meant creating an ocean of her own. Jasmin joined with three other Black women to form Minorities in Shark Sciences (MISS), an organization dedicated to providing support and opportunities for other young women of color. She became an independent researcher: a rogue shark scientist, seeking ways to keep these extraordinary endangered creatures swimming free—just like her.

Sharks Don’t Sink is a riveting, moving, and ultimately triumphant memoir at the intersection of science and social justice: a guidebook to how we can all learn to respect and protect some of nature’s most misunderstood and vulnerable creatures—and grant the same grace to ourselves.