Francesco Garzon is a marine biologist and conservationist working on large marine animals, especially sharks and rays. Francesco’s work is focused on understanding the relationship between animals and their environment, as well as describing their distribution and movements. With his research, Francesco aims to further our understanding of marine animals and provide the information necessary to support conservation planning for these species.

Having completed a master’s degree in conservation biology and ecology at the university of Exeter, for the past two years Francesco has been conducting research with MarAlliance in Cabo Verde. There, his work was focused on megaplanktivores (large, plankton-eating sharks and rays) and other large, coastal sharks: combining satellite tracking technology and statistical modeling, he aims to highlight hotspots of abundance for these species and their overlap with fishing grounds.

As a visiting student intern at KAUST, Francesco aims to better understand the short-distance movement patterns of stingrays and their residency in coastal ecosystems of the region, as well as contribute to a large assessment of the ichthyofauna of the Northern Red Sea.