Writing
I am a passionate writer and storyteller; and have been since childhood. All written media, including scientific papers, are telling a “story” - and stories are incredibly powerful tools for highlighting the importance and take-home messages of our science.
As well as scripting animated lessons and consulting research in digital media (more here!), I have contributed a number of written guest articles about sharks - including hit articles by The Guardian and The Conversation. On top of this, I also write pieces on recent shark research for the Save Our Seas Foundation, and lead a series of editorials on the latest palaeontology papers at Historical Biology as part of my role as the journal’s Science Communication Editor.
Writing for public audiences is key for science communication, as it makes our research more accessible and can allow our messages to reach many more people than a regular research paper would!
I am also deeply hopeful that I will get to write my first book in the next few years. No points for guessing if it will be about sharks. But in what way? Stay tuned!
In the meantime, I am always looking for new writing opportunities. If you want me to write for your publication about the latest shark research for a fee, or even if you just want me to write about your favourite shark species; please get in touch!
Blog
The story of Alisha: how a recovered tag revealed one great white shark’s epic voyage
In 2024, a fisher in Indonesia contacted shark experts to discuss a recovered shark tag. This set in motion a chain of events that produced three startling findings: (1) that the tag had been deployed on a great white shark 12 years prior; (2) the fate of that shark years later; and (3) the incredible journey that shark took across an ocean that wouldn’t be fully appreciated until years later.
Megalodon may have been looked like a big lemon shark
Otodus megalodon, the biggest shark in Earth’s history, may have just gotten a new makeover. Traditionally, size and body reconstructions have relied heavily on the great white shark due to it being considered either a close relative or an ecological proxy for megalodon. Now, a new study revisits the shape, size, and biology of this iconic extinct shark through a fresh lens.
A recent study uncovers a trophic cascade after great white sharks disappear
Great white sharks are known to be top-level predators in the marine food web. But what happens when we lose that predator from a marine ecosystem? An ongoing case study in South Africa is highlighted by a recent paper.
Writing portfolio
Cooper JA, 2025. Uruguay’s first Pleistocene fossil cubs. Historical Biology, 1-2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2025.2529106.
Cooper JA, 2025. Five things to know about prehistoric sharks. Sharks4kids blog. https://www.sharks4kids.com/post/five-things-to-know-about-prehistoric-sharks.
Cooper JA, 2025. Immortalising the contents and historical legacy of Sir John Murray’s collection from the HMS Challenger. Historical Biology, 1-3. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2025.2516358.
Cooper JA, 2025. How overfishing has caused shark and ray populations to collapse. Save Our Seas Foundations. https://saveourseas.com/how-overfishing-has-caused-shark-and-ray-populations-to-collapse/.
Cooper JA, 2025. The wee bat that could: how tiny and overlooked carpal bones fossils allow taxonomic identification. Historical Biology, 1-2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2025.2505824.
Cooper JA, 2025. A sauropod dinosaur with an unusually thin ilium. Historical Biology, 1-2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2025.2492520.
Cooper JA, 2025. Recontextualising a classic “Dinosaur trackway”. Historical Biology, 1-2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2025.2479395.
Cooper JA, 2025. ‘Awe-inspiring and harrowing’: how two orcas with a taste for liver decimated the great white shark capital of the world. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/23/south-africa-gansbaai-marine-biology-apex-predators-orcas-conquer-great-white-sharks-seals-penguins-trophic-cascade-aoe.
Cooper JA, 2023. Meg 2: the truth about the extinct mega shark – and why even this ridiculous film could inspire future palaeontologists. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/meg-2-the-truth-about-the-extinct-mega-shark-and-why-even-this-ridiculous-film-could-inspire-future-palaeontologists-210751.
Cooper JA, 2020. Scaling a Giant. Geoscientist, 30, 10-15. https://doi.org/10.1144/geosci2020-115.
Cooper JA, 2020. A Shark Nerd’s Guide to Megalodon. Bristol Dinosaur Project Blog (edited by Rhys Charles). https://dinoproject.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/category/shark-week/.