Verified profile
Field and expedition work.
Dr. Simon J. Pierce is a GSD tour leader, founder of the Marine Megafauna Foundation and a collaborating scientist with the Galápagos Whale Shark Project. A New Zealand-based marine conservation biologist with a PhD in marine biology from the University of Queensland, he led the 2016 IUCN Red List global whale shark assessment (which established the species as Endangered) and the successful 2017 push to uplist whale sharks under the UN Convention on Migratory Species. Widely published (BBC, National Geographic, NYT); his photography was credited by BBC's Blue Planet II and used on a PADI certification card.