Alison Kock

Dr. Alison Kock is a marine biologist at the Cape Research Centre, South African National Parks (SANParks) and an Honorary Research Associate with the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity and the Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa at the University of Cape Town. Alison's research interests are broad and include investigating the socio-ecological role of top predators, particularly large, coastal sharks, and evaluating the effectiveness of marine protected areas. She leads research and long-term ecological monitoring in four marine protected areas in the Northern and Western Cape of South Africa under the management of SANParks. Alison completed her PhD in biological sciences at the University of Cape Town in 2014 during which time she also co-established the Save Our Seas Foundation Shark Centre in Kalk Bay and helped to strategically grow the non-profit organization, Shark Spotters, whose vision is the sustainable co-existence of people and sharks. She currently serves on their executive committee. Alison is committed to ensuring that scientific information is effectively translated into management and policy actions and thus also serves on several national scientific working groups including the National Marine Biodiversity Scientific Working Group, the Top Predator Scientific Working Group, the South African Whale Disentanglement Network, the Seabird Technical Team and the Scientific Authority of South Africa.