Dr. Shannon Gerry earned her B.S. in Biology from Bucknell University where she studied sensory adaptations of freshwater stingrays. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Rhode Island. Her dissertation research compared the feeding mechanics, diet and behaviors of two species of sharks from Narragansett Bay, RI. Following graduation, Dr. Gerry taught Anatomy and Physiology as a visiting professor at Arcadia University. She then accepted a position as a NSF-funded postdoctoral researcher at Wellesley College working with Dr. David Ellerby to investigate the energetic requirements of fish swimming, trade-offs in swimming performance in a population of bluegill sunfish and the mechanical properties of leech muscle. Dr. Gerry joined the Biology department faculty at Fairfield University as an assistant professor in 2011.