Leading Ladies

Five Things You Should Know About Eugenie Clark
a.k.a. The Shark Lady

1. Experiencing discrimination both as a woman and Japanese American, Columbia turned her down for graduate school because she was a woman. Instead she got a job in a chemistry lab and took night classes at NYU. She went on to earn both a Master of Arts in 1946 and Doctorate of Philosophy in 1950.

2. She learned to swim before the age of two and frequently visited the New York Aquarium in Battery Park, where she spent hours wondering what it would be like to swim alongside sharks.

3. During her research, she worked at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, The American Museum of Natural History, Wildlife Conservation Society and Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida to focus on ocean conservation.

4. In the Sea of Cortez, Clark rode the back of 50 foot Whale Shark.

5. Never letting discrimination bring her down, she is known as one of the worlds most important ichthyologists.

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