Ryan McCurry

Ryan grew up along the Jersey Shore beaches where her love and curiosity for the ocean began. She received a B.S. degree in Biology and Marine Science from Virginia Wesleyan University where she also played collegiate soccer. As an undergraduate, Ryan performed a research project studying the behaviors of brown banded bamboo sharks (Chiloscyllium punctatum) to analyze dominant sensory systems utilized during predation, while a variety of prey items were introduced. Ryan’s interest in elasmobranchs and their behavior led her to the Pacific Islands Regional Observer Program in Hawai’i, where she worked as a protected species observer on commercial fishing vessels for over two years. After extensive field work in Hawai’i, Ryan felt drawn back to the East Coast so she could apply the skills and expertise learned in the Pacific Islands to her home coast to further pursue the conservation efforts of protected species. Now, as a gear researcher in the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Branch within the Protected Species Division at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center, she works closely with local fishermen and other members of the gear team to test on-demand or, ropeless fishing gear to help mitigate North Atlantic Right Whale entanglements in fishing gear.