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BRISTOL, R.I. – Part of the inaugural cohort of �Ӱ���Ƶ University’s newly established RWU Blue Fellows Program, Talia Moine ’25 spent her summer combining her desire to develop research with her lifelong love of sharks. 

Moine, who graduated with a B.S. in Marine Biology in May, conducted her fellowship with the (ASI). Under the supervision of RWU Professor of Marine Biology David Taylor, Moine used specialized underwater equipment known as Baited Remote Underwater Video (BRUVs) to determine what controls fish community structure and spatial variation of marine organisms across coastal Rhode Island. 

“This work helps to confirm that datasets provided from Atlantic Shark Institute are accurate and can be used in future studies,” said Moine, of New York, NY. “We are also continuing to develop this dataset so that we can track trends in shark population and species diversity as the years go on.” 

The RWU-ASI partnership has given Moine the unique opportunity to be involved in research that incorporates technologies such as BRUVs, which can inform other research efforts. “This research could lay the groundwork for expanded BRUVs deployments across seasons to reveal the impact of temperature, depth, and environmental shifts on local shark and fish species,” said Moine. 

Moine first began working with the RWU-ASI partnership during the spring of her senior year, when she took a Shark Biology and Conservation course at RWU. It was in this class that she was first exposed to research projects with BRUVs. 

“Connecting my undergraduate education to my research has been very rewarding,” said Moine.

The proximity of RWU’s Marine & Natural Sciences Laboratory to the Mount Hope Bay and ocean ecosystems provides the perfect opportunity to integrate authentic fieldwork into Moine’s research. She has been collaborating with ASI in a coastal tagging study of shortfin mako, the common thresher shark, blue sharks, and more. “Developing that field experience while being out on the water with those different elasmobranchs [cartilaginous fish] is a dream scenario for me,” said Moine. 

After Blue Fellows, Moine will be working with the , where she will travel to the Maldives and lead ecotourism tours, educate visitors, and conduct research at their marine station. 

“Blue Fellows helped me develop lab skills, technical skills, and data analysis, all of which will prepare me for my research position in the Maldives,” Moine said.

2025 RWU Blue Fellows Spotlight Series

The �Ӱ���Ƶ University Blue Fellows Program, part of the Blue Solutions Institute at RWU, offers students immersive, hands-on internships with faculty researchers and industry leaders. The program is supported by a generous gift from Elizabeth Moore, a conservationist and environmental philanthropist and a 2024 RWU honorary degree recipient. Read all the stories of our inaugural cohort in our 2025 RWU Blue Fellows Spotlight Series.