Patrick Rex

Research SCIENTIST

Patrick Rex grew up in wine country of Northern California. Despite being landlocked, he has always had a deep love and appreciation for the ocean. He decided to turn his passion into a career and pursue higher education. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, and a Master of Science in Biology from the California State University, Long Beach. For the past six years he has worked as part of the California Department of Shark Beach Safety to further our understanding of juvenile white shark biology, ecology, and human-interaction behavior. He spearheaded a novel study focusing on human-white shark overlap in nearshore waters. In this study, he found that despite near-daily interactions with people in southern California, juvenile white sharks do not act aggressively towards humans. As a Research Scientist at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, Patrick assists in field data collection, data analysis and synthesis, and the dissemination of findings to the public and scientific community.