2024 Celebrity Guests

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DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL MR DREYFUSS WILL BE UNABLE TO ATTEND. ALL PURCHASED AUTOGRAPHS, SELFIES, AND PHOTO OPS WILL BE REUNDED AND SHOULD BE PROCESSED IN THE NEXT 5-7 BUSINESS DAYS. 

SharkCon 10 welcomes Lance Guest. 

Lance R. Guest is an American actor. Known for his film work throughout the 1980s and various television roles thereafter, he made his screen debut with a supporting role in Halloween II. This was followed by headline parts in The Last Starfighter and Jaws: The Revenge. 

To purchase VIP Meet and Greet, Photo Ops and Autographs click here.

 SharkCon 10 welcomes Jeffrey Kramer.

 Jeffrey Kramer was born on July 15, 1945 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a producer and actor, known for Jaws (1975), Jaws 2 (1978) Halloween 2 (1981), and Clue (1985). 

To purchase VIP Meet and Greet, Photo Ops and Autographs click here.

 SharkCon 10 welcomes Christine Freeman.

 Champion water skier Christine Freeman was born in Springfield, Missouri.  She was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. Christine played the water skier in Jaws 2 (1978).

To purchase VIP Meet and Greet, Photo Ops and Autographs click here.

 SharkCon 10 welcomes Gigi Vorgan.

 Gigi Vorgan was born on August 3, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Jaws 2 (1978), Red Heat (1988) and The 'Burbs (1989). 

To purchase VIP Meet and Greet, Photo Ops and Autographs click here.

 SharkCon 10 welcomes Gary Springer

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 Gary Springer is an entertainment publicist representing film, theatre and events. His company represents independent and foreign films at festivals in the US and abroad, and for release in NY and nationally as well as serving as sales, distribution and awards consultant. He has represented or consulted on multiple film festivals in the US and internationally. Gary has represented over 25 Broadway shows, and numerous off-Broadway productions and companies. Gary's first career was as an actor with film appearances including "Dog Day Afternoon," "Jaws 2," "Small Circle of Friends" and "Law and Disorder." Gary is the international press consultant to the Monaco based International Emerging Film Talent Association. He was a founding member of The Creative Coalition and is a voting member for the Academy Awards.

To purchase VIP Meet and Greet, Photo Ops and Autographs click here.

 SharkCon 10 welcomes Michael A. Smith.

Michael coauthored the book Jaws 2: The making of a Sequel.

To purchase VIP Meet and Greet, Photo Ops and Autographs click here.

Dr. Chris Lowe is a professor in marine biology and director of the Shark Lab at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), where he and his students work with acoustic and satellite telemetry techniques to study the movement, behavior and physiology of sharks, rays and gamefishes.

Dr. Lowe earned his Bachelor of Arts in marine biology at Barrington College in Rhode Island and a Master of Science degree in biology at CSULB. In 1998, he achieved a doctorate in zoology, studying bioenergetics of juvenile hammerhead sharks, at the University of Hawaii.

For the last ten years, he and his students have been studying the baby and juvenile white sharks of Southern California and have greatly contributed to the field of knowledge for this enigmatic species. In addition, recent research by Dr. Lowe and his student team has focused on the development of underwater robots for autonomously tracking sharks and gamefishes. 

He has appeared in many articles and on TV and radio broadcasts, including the PBS/BBC special "Big Blue Live", "TODAY", "Al Jazeera America", "CBC News", Newsweek, KNX Radio, the Orange County Register and the Long Beach Press-Telegram, just to name a few.

 Dr. Mike Heithaus is dean of the College of Arts, Sciences & Education (CASE) and Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University (FIU). He is a marine ecologist specializing in predator-prey interactions and the ecological importance of sharks and other large marine species. Heithaus was a scientist at Mote Marine Laboratory's Center for Shark Research. He also worked with National Geographic's Remote Imaging Department where he conducted studies using their "Crittercam." Heithaus has been involved in the production of more than a dozen natural history documentaries, including two featured on Shark Week, and has hosted a National Geographic Channel television series. 

Dr.  Yannis Papastamatiou is an

Associate Professor and Marine Biologist. With close to 100 research publications, Papastamatiou is one of the world’s leading shark behavioral ecologists. Papastamatiou’s use of new tag technologies on species ranging from pelagic oceanic whitetips to home-ranging reef sharks has advanced the field of predator ecology and led to evidence-based marine protected area zoning. His work has appeared on National Geographic and BBC. A native of London, Papastamatiou has conducted research in California, Florida, Hawaii, South Africa and throughout the Mediterranean and Northern Pacific Ocean. He earned a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  Yannis P. Papastamatiou is known for Naked Science (2004), World's Biggest Hammerhead? (2022) and Shark Week (1987). 

Ph.D. Candidate Heithaus Lab FIU College of Arts, Sciences & Education

Casareto is a Ph.D. candidate working on behavioral ecology, focused on elasmobranch biology and ecology. Her dissertation work is looking at juvenile sharks and factors influencing their habitat use and decision making. She hopes to further her career in predator-prey interactions, informing management and conservation strategies for shark and ray populations. She's currently the Rookery Bay Research Reserve Fellow and the lead scientist for FIU's partnership with the nonprofit ANGARI. Sara is also a NOAA Margaret A Davidson Fellow (2024-2026 cohort). Twitter:@saracasareto Instagram: @bluewavz

John Chisholm joins the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life with nearly four decades of experience as a fisherman and scientist. He has been documenting the occurrence of white sharks in the Atlantic since the late 1970s and continues to add to his database by collecting both past and present sightings. John has also been able to identify over 500 individual white sharks, from Canada to Florida, by their natural markings. In addition to white sharks, his research has focused on the natural history and conservation of other New England shark species including spiny dogfish, sand tiger, porbeagle, and basking sharks.

Currently, his research focus is on the diversity and ecology of local sharks with special interest on using technology to better understand the migratory and predatory behavior of white sharks, the social behavior of basking sharks, and range expansion of several species. Besides research, John also likes to raise awareness about sharks through outreach and social media.

John works with the New England Aquarium and the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

 Joshua Eccles is one with the sharks and known amongst the dive world as Josh the Shark Guy.  He has dove with sharks for 14 years all over the world and has spent the last 9 years getting well acquainted here in Palm Beach with the sharks that frequent the 3rd largest reef system in the world.  His level of trust with sharks gives him the chance to help them in more ways than one.  Josh has become highly skilled at quickly and carefully removing fishing hooks from sharks while inflicting as little further damage and pain as possible.  Hook removal is a split second decision and act that requires experience and dedication to be well executed.  He has removed hundreds of hooks and other foreign objects from sharks suffering at the hands of the fishing industry.  He believes diving with sharks is a chance to correct untruths and stigmas that create fear and ignorance toward creatures we depend on to survive.  Josh’s desire to protect sharks and dive experience has led to the creation Dive Time Charters.
Dive Time Charters provides adventurous individuals the opportunity to dive with the best Sea Life the Gulf Stream has to offer. We are geared toward experienced divers that desire unique diving experiences focused on spreading awareness to benefit the oceans and its creatures.  Our approach to diving is to not only bring awareness to our fragile coastal ecosystem but also to provide an intimate diving experience focused on quality.   

Dr. Tracy Fanara is  an environmental engineer and research scientist with a BS, ME, and PhD from the University of Florida. Tracy has been recognized as an inspirational women in STEM by The Weather Channel, Xylem YSI, The Observer, The Gina Davis Foundation: If Then/She Can, Project Inspire, The National Science Leaders of America, and many other organizations, Universities and news outlets.

Tracy is a scientist and program manager at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Before joining NOAA, Tracy managed the Environmental Health research program at Mote Marine Laboratory. Tracy’s mission, Inspector Planet, answers the calls of the public on environmental and wildlife hazards to solve and explain causes and solutions.  You may have seen her on The Weather Channel as an expert or on the show Weird Earth or on the Science Channel’s Mythbusters and What On Earth?

Ph.D. Candidate

Predator Ecology & Conservation Lab

FIU College of Arts, Sciences & Education

Originally from The Bahamas, Candace Fields is a Ph.D. candidate under the joint supervision of Drs. Chapman and Papastamatiou. After finishing her bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, she spent two years at the Cape Eleuthera Institute where she was a key member on the pelagic research team and is currently an adjunct scientist. Candace’s research focuses on the population dynamics and geographic population structure of large predators, with a particular focus on the critically endangered oceanic whitetip shark. She's passionate about shark conservation and being a Bahamian advocate for the protection and importance of sharks and rays in the Bahamas.

My name is Jackson Hooten. My background is in marine predatory ecology and my studies have focused on sharks. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Science from Eckerd College. Following undergrad, I moved to South Africa for about 7 months where I worked with a non-profit group out of Mossel Bay and conducted research on the local white shark population. Afterwards, I was accepted into Jacksonville University where I did a Masters thesis studying the migratory patterns and habits of the Western North Atlantic white shark population across the entire Eastern Seaboard of the US. I am currently working on publishing this thesis research. While working on that publication, along with a couple others, I am working for the Federal Government as a Coastal Marine Ecologist and NEPA Biologist. 

Ph.D. Student

Heithaus Lab

FIU College of Arts, Sciences & Education

Davon is a Ph.D, student studying the movement ecology of bull sharks. His dissertation is focused on bull sharks and how they are traversing the coast of West Palm Beach, how they are utilizing the reefs and shipwrecks of West Palm Beach, and how this could affect community composition throughout a given year. 

Ryan Walton is A wildlife behavior expert and expedition guide. Ryan has been leading global wildlife expeditions since 2015!  

Ryan has been in the diving industry since 2009. Not long after reaching his highest level of PADI training as a Staff Instructor, Ryan began working full time with Sharks. Ryan has over a decade of experience working with more than 38 species of Elasmobranch worldwide.

In addition, Ryan is also a professional Underwater Photographer and Videographer.

Ryan is also a Co-Founder of Florida based Shark Ecotourism outfit: Shark Tours Florida

You can also find Ryan on YouTube with weekly episodes of “My Shark Life,” an adventure based web series!

 Samantha Whitcraft is a marine conservation biologist, environmentalist, and oceans advocate. Logging 5000+ research and educational dives around the world, she created the first classroom-at-sea in Gardens of the Queen National Park, Cuba. After earning her Bachelor’s in natural science at Harvard and her Master of Marine Affairs & Policy at University of Miami, she worked to legally protect endangered marine species, especially sharks, whales, and manatees. She’s studied coral reef MPAs’ connectivity and investigated the shark fin trade in China all while promoting sustainable ecotourism over her 30+ year career. Whitcraft initiated and developed Aggressor Adventures® award winning sustainability program, Green the Fleet®, and is Executive Director of the Sea of Change Foundation, providing leadership in community-based conservation, globally.