“Dr Sara Andreotti is a marine biologist and postdoctoral researcher working toward the development of a global long-term management system and conservation plan for great white sharks since 2009. Thanks to the collaboration with world renewed shark conservationist Michael Rutzen and the country’s Department of Environmental Affairs, she completed her PhD at Stellenbosch University in March 2015; her research involved genetic techniques and photographic identification to better assess the population status and dispersal events of South African white sharks. The outcome was the first national assessment of white shark population numbers and genetic structure, and the genetic work recently expanded in an international collaboration with the University of Queensland and Flinders University (Australia). Sara obtained a postdoctoral researcher position at the University of Stellenbosch, focusing on her own research but also supervising prospective PhD and Master students.
Further, following her passion for shark conservation, Sara co-founded SharkSafe Barriers (Pty) Ltd, a start-up Company aiming to provide an eco-friendly and shark-specific technology to keep swimmers and surfers safe from large predatory sharks; she is one of the four co-inventors of the SharkSafe BarrierTM, a patented technology which successfully bio-mimics the visual effects of a kelp forest and combines this with a series of permanent magnetic stimuli to form a barrier that dissuades sharks from passing through, without affecting other marine life. The SharkSafe BarrierTM aims to be the ultimate solution for a peaceful coexistence between beach goers and large sharks, for rejuvenating both the local ecology and tourism of coastal areas.” – LinkedIn
SharkSafe Barrier strives to change the way ocean users enter the water through the worldwide revolution of shark management. They aim to create a peaceful coexistence with sharks and other marine animals that will facilitate the ability of future ocean life to survive and thrive.
“I divide my time between genetic research on white shark and all the technical details needed to build and grow a start-up. Working in the hope that in the near future humans will learn to peacefully coexist with sharks.” – LinkedIn