Conduct and sponsor research on sharks and promote their conservation. Our programs─science, conservation, legislation and education─are intertwined. Our objective is to prevent the extinction of sharks, thereby ensuring the health of the ocean ecosystem and, ultimately, our planet. Creating awareness about why sharks are important is a good first step, but legislators require hard scientific data to enact legislation. Our success in securing protective legislation was achieved though our peer-reviewed scientific research publications and advocacy in national and international forums such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).