SHARK RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC – Shark Celebrity Auction
Auction Ends: Aug 18, 2013 11:59 PM EDT

Unique Experiences

Lunch or Dinner with Leonard J.V. Compagno, Ph.D. in Glencairn, South Africa

Item Number
10
Estimated Value
Priceless
Opening Bid
50 USD

Item Description

Lunch or Dinner with Leonard J.V. Compagno, Ph.D. — The world’s foremost expert on sharks — in Glencairn, South Africa.

Dr. Compagno earned his Ph.D. at Stanford University in 1979, and has authored more than 100 publications on sharks, including books, chapters in books, numerous scientific papers and a number of popular works, mostly on cartilaginous fishes.

His books include Catalog of World Sharks (Food & Agricultural Organization of the United Nations); Sharks of the Order Carcharhiniformes (Princeton University Press); Guide to Sharks and Rays of Southern Africa (Struik). His Sharks of the World, published simultaneously in the UK and USA, is the first ever field guide to sharks.

 He was co-founding director (along with Samuel Gruber and Don Nelson) of the American Elasmobranch Society, an Ordinary Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, and he is the regional vice-chair for Southern Africa for the IUCN’s Shark Specialist Group.

In 2008, Dr. Compagno was awarded the Gilchrist Medal for his “outstanding contribution to the enhancement of marine and coastal science in South Africa, including the Southern Ocean”. In 2009, he received the Robert H. Gibbs Award, the most prestigious award in the field of Ichthyology.

He is also an avid birder, science fiction writer and political cartoonist.

 www.sharks.org

Item Special Note

Being auctioned is dinner or lunch with one the world’s foremost shark experts or celebrities. It is a unique opportunity to “talk shark” face-to-face, one-on-one, with a real authority on sharks. 

How it works:

1. Bid on a celebrity, shark scientist or conservationist that lives or works in your area, unless you are willing to drive or fly to meet them in their area.

2. The winning bidder pays for the lunch or dinner and may bring as many guests as he or she wishes.

3. We will introduce the winning bidder to the celebrity, scientist or conservationist. The two of you then set a mutually agreeable  date, time and place to meet within one year of the close of the auction.

All winning bids are charitable contributions deductible from US Federal 2013 income taxes.  Funds raised by the auction will be used to support shark research and conservation programs.