Sharks to Reefs Via Switzerland: Gillian Fischer

Growing up in Switzerland, Gillian never encountered sharks apart from seeing them in books, documentaries and other movies. This, however, was enough for her to develop a massive fear of sharks. Even though she was scared of them, she still always wanted to look at the animal encyclopedia where she would skip most pages to get straight to the pages about sharks. So there was always some kind of interest for these animals from a young age.

During her first scuba dive when she was about 13 years old, she encountered her first sharks – lemon and blacktip reef sharks. This was a pivotal moment in Gillian’s life. She was able to see these incredibly misunderstood animals in their natural habitat and they were completely different to what the media portrays them to be. After that, her fear turned into a fascination. 

In 2016, Gillian started with underwater photography, specializing in shark photography which she publishes under her artist name Gillian Shark.

The main aim of her photography is to raise awareness, educate people about the importance of sharks for our ecosystem and also to portray sharks in an aesthetically beautiful way. Moreover, with her pictures Gillian wants to give people access to a different world they maybe do not have the chance to explore themselves. As a qualified primary school teacher Gillian is well aware of the importance of educating people and children about different topics. It is crucial that bringing awareness to people should never be imposed upon them but rather done by starting a conversation. Awards — GILLIAN SHARK

Since starting with her shark photography in 2016, Gillian has been awarded several awards and honourable mentions in various photography competitions. She has also been interviewed by different Swiss and international magazines and Swiss National TV. In 2021, National Geographic Germany featured her in an online article in the category “Newcomer Underwater Photographer”.  

After learning about shark behaviour during an interaction course led by the late Swiss shark behaviour researcher Dr. Erich Ritter, Gillian completed two internships where she and a small group of people assisted Erich in his research about shark-human-interaction in 2017 and 2018.

Since then, Gillian has become a certified PADI Rescue Diver and has done over 200 dives. For most of those dives, Gillian and her favourite dive buddy, her father, have travelled to places where they could dive with sharks. 

In 2023, Gillian moved to Australia to complete her Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Technology Sydney. 

Oceanite

After coming across the Reef Life Foundation reading about how IntelliReefs worked, and Impressed by the United Nations Endorsement!

Gillian was eager to learn more about it. She was really intrigued by the fact that the Oceanite can be moulded into any shape and that after only a couple of months, the Oceanite was already covered in life; Solving Ocean Challenges for Immediate Impact.

IntelliReefs Designs for Australian "Patch Reefs" Placing Pre Seeded By Species, Small Reef Sections In-Between, Degraded Reef Systems

Patch Reefs Build Ocean Biodiversity

Blue Carbon Research with IntelliReefs Oceanite

With her MBA degree, specializing in Not-For-Profit and Social Enterprise Management and International Business, Gillian is working on a research paper about blue carbon potential with Dr. Konstantin Sobolev, Melody Brenna and the Nanotechnology Science Teams.

Oceanite Research | Using Nanotechnology to Create Oceanite | IntelliReefs

See Oceanite VOID Structure in the Pervious Matrix below:

Acknowledgment of Country

As the author of this article, I acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this article was written, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.

I would like to pay my respect to the Elders past, present and emerging. 

Gillian Fischer

Reef Life Team: Coral Reef Restoration Team | Reef Life Foundation Including our Australian Consulting Project Director:

Initial Australian Research & Project Chart Gillian Created for Reef Life Foundation