Blake Chapman
Blake has a passion and love for all things to do with the water. She developed a special love for sharks at an early age, and has since worked tirelessly to gain a better understanding of these animals and the positives and negatives of human interaction with them.
She has a passion for communicating and engaging with audiences of all backgrounds, helping people to develop a more realistic impression of the animals she loves. Blake is a researcher, author, and runs a science communication consultancy.
She collaborates with organisation around the world to aid in the development and optimisation of shark bite mitigation strategies with the ultimate aim of enabling a more peaceful co-exitance of sharks and human water users.
Blake has a PhD in shark neuroscience, has worked as Animal Health Manager at a large public aquarium, and published her first book, Shark Attacks: Myths, Misunderstandings and Human Fear in November 2017. Blake is currently the Sharks Editor-at-Large for Australian Geographic.
Blake is engaging, informative and injects a certain degree of humour into her presentations. She takes a broad and unbiased approach to understanding human-shark interaction, considering all standpoints. She loves talking to audiences of all ages.
Presentation topics
Sharks and “shark attacks”
Sharks: From teeth to tail (for kids)
Shark bite mitigation
Marine animals
Working with sharks (and other marine animals)
More about Blake Chapman
Blake has held a variety of positions, which have allowed her to gain an in-depth understanding of sharks and shark-human interaction. She has visited, and been invited to collaborate and consult with groups around the world working to mitigate the risk sharks can pose to humans.
- Blake collaborates with organisations in Australia, the United States, New Zealand and Reunion Island and has spoken extensively to people who have been affected by shark bites.
- Blake has developed an interactive and educational session for kids (4-8) on sharks and has delivered lessons over Skype for kids in the United States.
- Blake has spoken extensively with the media about her work, including being featured in Channel 7’s Sunrise, Weekend Sunrise, The Daily Edition, Sunday Telegraph, ABC News, Channel 7 News, ABC Radio (National and Regional), Triple M Radio, Triple J The Hack, Psychology Today, New Zealand Listener, National Geographic, Brisbane Times, Gold Coast Bulletin, and the New Daily, amongst others.
- Blake writes a regular shark blog for Australian Geographic, and has written for The Conversation, Australian Geographic magazine, Australasian Science and Ocean Geographic. She has also published numerous peer-reviewed manuscripts.
- Blake has been interviewed for NatGeo Wild’s Shark Fest and Born to be Wild (Philippines).