Harry Maisch Profile

Harry Maisch is an Instructor I in the Department of Marine and Earth Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University. He earned his Master’s and Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Science with a focus on geology and paleontology from the City University of New York at Brooklyn College and The Graduate Center. Throughout his graduate studies, Harry taught various courses in geology, environmental science, and earth science as an adjunct professor and lecturer while also conducting research, and has continued this trend since joining FGCU in the Fall of 2022. Harry’s research primarily focuses on Cenozoic shark and fish paleontology and taphonomy from the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains of the United States, although he has also studied Late Cretaceous sharks, fish, and marine reptiles from the western United States as well as Devonian invertebrate fossils in glacial erratics recovered from northern New Jersey and southern New York. Harry’s original research endeavors have also provided many opportunities to mentor undergraduate students in the laboratory and field. In particular, he has conducted field work on land and while SCUBA diving at various locations around the USA. Due to his interest in field work, the fossils Harry studies are primarily self-collected and have unique geologic histories that are important in addressing climatic and sea-level changes over geologic time. In addition to discovering and describing small teeth belonging to a new species of fossil stingray from Arkansas, some of Harry’s current research involves collecting and studying large teeth belonging to the iconic megatoothed shark: Otodus megalodon.