
Paula Carlson is Director of Husbandry at The Dallas World Aquarium, in Dallas, Texas. An outspoken advocate for the important role that zoos and aquariums play in informal science education and conservation, Paula is an active member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and currently serves as Chair of the Marine Fishes Taxon Advisory Group (MFTAG).
As MFTAG Chair Paula also serves as an Advisor to the AZA SAFE Sharks and Rays program. Paula is a member of the IUCN’s Shark Specialist Group where she is Co-Chair of the Aquarium Working Group. She is a member of the IUCN’s Specialist Group for Seahorses, Pipefish and Seadragons where she serves as the Ex situ Focal Point representative. In 2012, she participated in a workshop to help develop the IUCN’s Global Conservation Strategy for Sawfish, which was published in June 2014
As MFTAG Chair Paula also serves as an Advisor to the AZA SAFE Sharks and Rays program. Paula is a member of the IUCN’s Shark Specialist Group where she is Co-Chair of the Aquarium Working Group. She is a member of the IUCN’s Specialist Group for Seahorses, Pipefish and Seadragons where she serves as the Ex situ Focal Point representative. In 2012, she participated in a workshop to help develop the IUCN’s Global Conservation Strategy for Sawfish, which was published in June 2014

Stephen Frederickson is a Biologist working for the National Human Genome Research Institute at the NIH in Bethesda, Maryland in America. Stephen has a Bachelor of Science and an AALAS LATG certification. Stephen has worked in the National Parks Service on wild fish populations, at the Freshwater Institute on land-based aquaculture research and has been at the NIH working primarily with zebrafish for more than a decade. Stephen has held a variety of positions, has authored several papers relating to his animal work and has spoken and taught at multiple venues on these efforts.