Christopher Nagle

                              Bio in Brief

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Christopher Nagle is an early-career Ecologist and Environmental Management expert focusing primarily on marine conservation and living-resource management topics. Currently 27 years old, Christopher has earned a Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) form Harvard University, Extension School (’18) in the field of Sustainability & Environmental Management (SEM).  During his time as a graduate student, he received several special academic and leadership distinctions, including his time serving as HESA Director of Student Affairs (2016–’18) and Voting Representative of the Harvard Extension School on the Harvard Graduate Council (2016–’18) for multiple years respectively.  Prior to Harvard, Christopher completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania (‘14) where he majored in Biology with a concentration in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology; he also minored in History of Art.  At Penn Christopher was an active member of multiple student groups, engaged in high-level independent research, and was an NCAA Division-1 Athlete, earning a Varsity Letter 4-years consecutively (and multiple league distinctions) in Collegiate Lightweight Football (CSFL). As a Junior in 2013, Christopher spent almost 8 months living in Sydney, Australia where he studied at the University of New South Wales as an exchange student.  Before moving to Philadelphia to pursue his undergrad at Penn, Christopher received his high school diploma from Marist School in Atlanta (’10), where he was a member of the National Honor Society, a College Board AP Scholar with Distinction, and 3-sport varsity letterman (Football, Swimming, Track & Field). He was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia.

 
Over his academic and early professional career, Christopher has conducted scientific research in direct association with several high-profile institutional partners, including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) (2014 –’15), The American Museum of Natural History (2011), the Harvard University Sustainability & Environmental Management Program (2015–’18), the University of Pennsylvania Department of Biology (2013–’14), and the UPenn Perelman School of Medicine (2013–’14). While remaining broadly within the scope of the Life Sciences, research topics ranged from marine environmental toxicology (focusing on microplastics), wildlife behavior, South Asian fisheries management, human population genomics, and vertebrate embryology, respectively. His graduate thesis, Shark Fishing in the Indian Seas, focuses on South Asian fisheries management and can be summarized as a definitive account of the modern shark harvest of the nation of India within the boundaries of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The project was particularly innovative in its use of advanced statistics to meld together disparate and porous regional fisheries data-sets in addition to its unique application of marine ecological mapping to ultimately aid in stock status assessments for nearly 30 species of regional, oceanic sharks. The project was nominated for the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Thesis in Sustainability & Environmental Management.

In terms of more overtly professional engagements, Christopher has in recent years held various positions at organizations primarily focusing on science, environment & administration, most notably at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat (based out of Bonn, Germany) as a graduate Intern with the Science & Review Sub-Programme (2017); at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as an Assistant on the DASCH Project (2016), and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as a Guest Student & Researcher in (2014 –’15).  Christopher continues to pursue professional engagements in the biological sciences and academia, with an expressed focal interest in global biodiversity conservation initiatives (especially in the marine sector) requiring an interdisciplinary research and management skillset. 

Lastly, in addition to his academic, research and professional preoccupations, Christopher is a published photojournalist and travel essayist who has been curating a unique global perspective through intensive international travel and exploration in concert with his academic and professional  pursuits in recent years, some examples of note:  a transect of Borneo (2013); an eight-country, 3.5 month solo-backpacking circuit of South America (2014); and motorcycling the Manali–Leh–Nubra Valley Highway through the Kashmiri Himālaya and Karakorum as part of an expansive, overland transit of India (2016), among many others. (Many photographs from which are included in this blog!). Currently, Christopher is residing locally in Atlanta while he seeks out post-graduate employment.  Additionally, he continues to work on scientific publications affiliated with his graduate thesis work with his Thesis Director, Dr. Gregory Skomal, and he also volunteers at the Georgia Aquarium.

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