Stephen Kajiura, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida Atlantic University and head of the Elasmobranch Research Laboratory at FAU. His area of expertise is the sensory biology of sharks and rays with an emphasis on the electrosensory system.
Kajiura integrates sensory physiology with comparative morphology to test how the platform shape of the head influences the information received by the sensory receptors. His recent work has focused on how the hammerhead shark perceives its environment given its unique head shape and broadly distributed eyes, nostrils and electroreceptors. In addition to his sensory physiology research, Kajiura studies the massive seasonal aggregation of blacktip sharks in South Florida. He incorporates aerial surveys with on the water tagging and acoustic telemetry to document the migration of these sharks along the U.S. eastern seaboard.
Kajiura has conducted research for various agencies including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. He has published more than 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has presented numerous talks at scientific conferences. He has supervised a dozen graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, and has served on numerous thesis committees for students from around the world.
Kajiura maintains a strong public outreach service, primarily through television documentary appearances, and has served as an elected member of the American Elasmobranch Society Board of Directors.
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