For Mary, the ocean is like a second home. While she has an affinity for creatures of all sizes on land and in the sea, she is especially passionate about sharks. As a diver and photographer, Mary has dove with over thirty different species of sharks and has always been fascinated by them. When she learned they were being devastated by commercial fishing, driven mainly by the demand for shark fin soup, she decided to dedicate herself to conservation efforts aimed at saving them.
Mary is a long time supporter of Shark Savers, and has been active with a number of shark conservation campaigns - from changing shark tournaments to catch and release, pushing for local legislation to protect sharks, organizing shark conservation events, letter writing campaigns and petitions. She is also a founder of the Shark Safe Network and developed most of the website content and materials for this organization. Shark Safe Network's mission is to provide resources to support and coordinate grass roots shark conservation efforts by individuals and small conservation groups.
Mary's professional experience - working for various companies and as a business owner - has ranged from Market Analysis, Systems Design, Project Management, Large Enterprise Sales to International Sales Management with responsibility for building and managing worldwide distribution networks. She has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and a graduate degree in International Business Studies.
