Shark Hero Talks: Mikki McComb-Kobza

Dr. Mikki McComb-Kobza is one of the top shark experts in the world. She is also passionate about sharing her love of the ocean. Mikki’s work focuses on the sensory biology and ecological physiology of sharks, skates, and rays. She is the shark scientist that discovered hammerhead sharks have a 360-degree field of vision! Mikki uses her work to advocate for sharks and shark habitat, highlighting their global population decline to frame new shark conservation directions.

Mikki works worldwide, including South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. BBC, National Geographic, Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, and CBC National Radio Canada cover her outreach efforts.

Mikki believes that when people are aware, they care and when they care, they act. She is the Executive Director of the Ocean First Institute. The Institute supports expeditions and various education initiatives that reach students of all ages. Her position as Executive Director allows her to promote research, conservation, and sustainability.

Mikki holds a Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from Florida Atlantic University and is the author of numerous scientific publications. As a human, Mikki is cheerful, kind, very optimistic, and determined. I had the pleasure of speaking with her over the phone, and I provide the transcript below.

What inspired you to save the shark?

“I grew up in Colorado. I loved nature. I was part of that group of kids that got to spend a lot of time outside without adult supervision, so it was a good childhood. I saw Jaws when I was 7 with my big brother Michael. It was terrifying. I left the theater terrified of sharks. I literally thought sharks were under the bed and the kitchen table at home. I made it onto the swim team because I was swimming away from invisible sharks coming out of the drain. I was freaked out.”

“My parents had animal encyclopedia books, and they had sharks in them. I started to read about sharks because I was so scared, and it turned into a fascination instead of fear. I learned how amazing they are, their long evolutionary history, and their diversity. I was hooked!”

How are you working to bridge the gap between shark research and public engagement?

“For me, research is where it’s at. Research has tremendous value. One of the critically important things to me is taking that research and getting the word out about why research matters and what it can do, especially in light of species in peril. You can do all the research you want, but if it doesn’t translate and people don’t learn about it and act on it, it is a bit hollow. I took a non-traditional path to continue research but still have an active outreach voice. That is why I started a non-profit organization, to fuel my dual passions.” 

What is the mission of the Ocean First Institute?

“Our mission is ocean conservation through research and education. When I do research in the field, I work with some very iconic wildlife. Bringing those stories back into classrooms is wonderful. There is an innate connection between young people and nature. When we talk about our research and why we do it, that resonates with young people. We then weave into why conservation initiatives are important and the specific things that each of us can do to be part of these animals’ solution. For me, that’s really powerful because it takes away that paralysis that many of us have when we think about big problems like the sixth mass extinction. If we can combat those problems with simple solutions, people will not give up and see that they really can make a difference. Individually and collectively, having a voice for the ocean is critical and powerful.”

What are your primary responsibilities as executive director of the Ocean First Institute?

“I wear many hats! I am doing anything from fundraising, grant writing, doing research in the field, coordinating the research, traveling, leading students on expeditions to collecting data, and running education programs. We just opened a discovery center here in Boulder, an ocean discovery center of all things. I run programs for middle and high school students there, teaching various topics to them. I do budgets. I do talks. I work with a board of directors and hold meetings. A lot of different things that keep me busy.”

What does success look like for the Ocean First Institute?

“We are about six years old now. This last year, as strange as 2020 was, was our best year. Because of covid, we were nimble and adapted to our environment. We brought out the tools we had already been using, like virtual programming. We expanded on what we do well. That worked for us.”

“Success for us is bringing in more people to be part of our story and empowering more people to have a voice through our platform. To do the research that is important to us and share that story to get people excited and to get them to commit to making more changes that will make the world a better place.”

What’s next for the Ocean First Institute in 2021?

“This year is going to be ridiculous. We just started a discovery center, so we have a physical space here in Boulder. We’ve got touch tanks and a microscope lab. We are running classes Mondays and Fridays for middle and high school students. We just started last week, and it’s going great! We do virtual and in person, which allows us to reach many students with our message. We are dreaming up new programs as we move through these next weeks, which is exciting because things change. Everything isn’t always the same, so we’re delivering new research and content and engaging students on what is happening today, which is exciting for them.”

“We will be running some scientific expeditions as well. I am doing some work with baited underwater cameras for great white sharks, which is exciting. I will be running two expeditions this year with colleagues of mine. We’re also doing some eDNA; we pull water samples and look for white shark DNA. It is really fun!”

“One of the last important things we have planned is local conservation projects. We do a lot of work on the ocean and marine species. However, we recognize that not every kid from this area can go to the ocean with us. Therefore I started working on conservation projects here locally with collaborators. We are working with a state endangered species called the northern redbelly dace. We have students doing aquaculture with these endangered fish and releasing them back into the wild. This project is exploding. Because of covid, we had to move the fish from schools to my basement, so I grew about a thousand fish in my basement this year. This next year, we hope to get many more fish back into the wild. The whole point is to get students to understand why research and conservation are cool frontiers for them to look into as careers that they can be part of.”

What sort of work did you do for Teens4Oceans?

“Teens4Oceans was a similar non-profit organization. One of the fascinating things we did with that organization was deploying live underwater video cameras with a small platform on the surface with solar panels. We would beam the live signal to land. We had live streaming underwater cameras all over the world. The idea there was to get people excited to see marine life. To see tarpon swimming by, a coral reef, a fish cleaning station, or an area with many turtles and sharks. There are so many cameras, including one in the British Virgin Islands, in the Cayman Islands, there’s one in the frying pan off the Carolinas – a structure underwater, there’s another one in Gibraltar, another off the bridge in the Keys.”

“The cool thing about these cameras is the streams are still going. If you go to explore.org, you can find some of those live streams there.” 

What kind of research did you conduct for your Ph.D.?

“My main project for my Ph.D. was looking at the functional significance of the hammerhead head. Why does the hammerhead have an interesting head shape? Is that head shape adaptive or maladaptive? In other words: is it great to be a hammerhead, or is it terrible. There are many different hammerhead species, which is part of the riddle with hammerheads. Different species have different head expansions. Some look like normal sharks, while others look like boomerang heads. It was fascinating for me to be able to do that work.”

Were you able to find out if their head shape is adaptive or maladaptive?

“Yea, here’s the cool part. I was interested mostly in the sensory systems that have been stretched. One of the ones I was really interested in was the visual system. So think about a hammerhead with its eyes pointing straight out on that head. You wouldn’t think that they would be able to see straight ahead. I decided to map out their visual field. I experimented with an electroretinogram, similar to what you would experience at the eye doctor. I figured out the visual fields of many species of hammerhead shark. It turns out that they have binocular overlap, meaning their two eyes, independent fields, do overlap in front of them, giving them awesome depth perception. The weirdest part is the overlap in hammerheads are bigger than normal sharks. The reason why is their eyes are on the ends of the hammers, but they are canted slightly forward. It was mind blowing, these guys can see with even bigger overlaps than other shark species.”

What is your favorite shark species?

“I love the hammerheads by far. I love scalloped hammerheads, as well as the little bonnetheads. They are just so weird and so wonderful. I just love them!”

If you were to obtain a research grant from a university right this second? How would you use it?

“I would try to track hammerheads in areas that are probably nursery areas. Through the tagging and tracking study, I would designate the area as a nursery area that needs to be protected. Some of the work I’ve done, such as electrosensory work, is very cool. However, a lot of it does not directly apply to conservation. During these times of global shark population decline, conservation projects are imperative. Protecting the young that are going to fuel the next generation of these sharks is a critical thing that we should be focusing on.”

What facts about sharks matter the most when legislation is involved?

“I just think the whole thing is a lack of understanding. How long sharks have been on the planet, how many there are, the diversity, and just the sharks’ story. People have zero appreciation for how special sharks are and why they really should be protected, and their role in a healthy ecosystem. If people knew how vital they are at maintaining a healthy ocean and that it has a positive benefit for humans, even though it feels like an indirect connection, they would not cast aside these animals as useless predators.”

What is your biggest advice to undergraduate students pursuing careers in conservation?

“Don’t give up. People will tell you no. People will tell you that you shouldn’t do it or give up or that there are other things you can do to make you more money. They’ll tell you there are more important things to do in business. If it’s in your heart and you’re contemplating this career, don’t let it go. We need more people. It’s almost like compiling an army of people who care about nature. We need more people who connect to nature as young people, so they grow up to be adults that understand that the natural world exists.”

“You are going to have a windy road. Everybody does. Everybody’s road is different. Embrace that. Realize that some things you want will not come to fruition, other doors will open, and other paths will emerge, take them. At the time, it might not seem to be the right path, but all paths eventually lead to what you want. Stay the course, stay the course.”

What advice would you give a graduate student that wants to study sharks?

“It’s competitive, but it’s a field where we need more people. Understand that if you’re gunning for an academic post, be wary because there are more people than posts, I’d say. Be open-hearted to the reality that there are jobs out there that you may not even think would be a good fit for you that might end up being your career path. You might have more impact in a particular field you didn’t consider than the ones that you originally thought were imperative for you.”

Keep up with Mikki on her social media and through the Ocean First Institute!