Leah Gerber, Professor, School of Life Sciences in the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, is lead author on Examining the efficacy of a sanctuary to protect sharks in the Galapagos Marine Reserve, a new publication in Conservation Science and Practice.
This paper compares alternative shark conservation strategies in the Galápagos Marine Reserve and asks a broader question that is highly relevant to conservation today: How can we evaluate the expected effectiveness of different conservation interventions before they're implemented? Beyond the science itself, this research also reflects one of the aspects of the Center for Biodiversity Outcomes work that is most valuable: engaging and training students to become conservation leaders.
Co-authors include two recent PhD graduates from biodiversity hotspots, Dr. Paola Sangolquí (Galápagos, Ecuador) and Dr. Camila Guerrero Pineda (Bogotá, Colombia), who bring deep local knowledge with innovative analytical approaches to address a real, place-based conservation challenge. Paola’s leadership has recently been recognized with a 2026 Whitley Award, one of the world's premier conservation prizes. Paola is also recognized in GFL’s ASU Thrive feature highlighting her journey and work in the Galápagos.
Says Gerber: A new study led by researchers at Arizona State University's Center for Biodiversity Outcomes in collaboration with a scientist at the Galápagos Science Center in Ecuador suggests that reducing shark bycatch across fisheries may deliver greater conservation benefits than creating additional no-take sanctuaries for highly mobile shark species that are already legally protected. Using demographic models for scalloped hammerhead, silky, and blacktip sharks in Ecuador's Galápagos Marine Reserve, scientists compared the expected effectiveness of two conservation strategies: expanding spatial protection through a shark sanctuary and reducing bycatch across the surrounding Exclusive Economic Zone. They found that for wide-ranging sharks, bycatch mitigation generally produced larger improvements in population growth than establishing a sanctuary within an area where shark mortality was already relatively low.