Austin Gallagher Headshot
Report a problem with this profile
[email protected]

Austin Gallagher  

CEO and President, Beneath the Waves

Dr. Austin Gallagher is a global conservation biologist, social entrepreneur, award-winning filmmaker and wildlife photographer, and writer specializing in the conservation and study of predators with a focus on sharks. He serves on Beneath the Waves’ senior leadership team as President and Director of Research, is a post-doctoral fellow at Carleton University (Ottawa, Canada), an adjunct professor at the University of Miami (Florida, USA), and a Visiting Scientist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Maryland (USA).

Gallagher’s work on focuses on the role of predators in marine, aquatic, and terrestrial ecosystems, and he is particularly keen on investigating animal survival in human-dominated landscapes. His work tightly weaves behavior with eco-physiology, and he uses advanced tracking techniques and physiological tools to study animal behavior, stress, health, and ecology. He has particular expertise on large sharks such as tiger sharks, hammerheads, and great whites. He maintains active research projects in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. He also conducts work on freshwater fish ecology and behavior, and has projects working on the behavior and physiology of terrestrial predators such as osprey and coyotes.

He has published his work in leading journals such as Trends in Ecology and Evolution, Functional Ecology, BioScience, and PLoS ONE. His research has attracted national and international media coverage in Forbes, National Geographic, Discovery, BBC, Outside, Scientific American, and Huffington Post.

Austin is a strong advocate of educational outreach and community engagement. His photography has been featured in a variety of leading print magazines and digital media, and his short documentaries and films have won several awards at film festivals and been shown to public audiences around the world. He is the founder and President of Beneath the Waves, Inc., a registered 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization that conducts conservation-based research and hosts powerful and inspirational educational events around the world that unite the public with dynamic young scientists, social entrepreneurs, artists and filmmakers, athletes, and other change-makers. Since 2009, Austin has activated Beneath the Waves in 15 different countries and served our unique brand of ocean conservation and education to over 10,000 people in person.

Related Speakers View all


More like Austin