Andy Dehart serves as director of biological programs for the National Aquarium, Washington, D.C., as well as Discovery Channel shark adviser.
Andy has been interviewed on his extensive knowledge of sharks by top media outlets, including CBS Early Show, NBC Nightly News, Larry King Live, Fox News, USA Today, The O'Reilly Factor, and CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, as well as various local television, print, and radio media outlets.
He has been featured in five Discovery Channel Shark Week productions: SHARKS UNDER GLASS (2003), SHARK FEEDING FRENZY (2007), DAY OF THE SHARK (2008), SHARK AFTER DARK (2009), and DAY OF THE SHARK 2 (2009).
He began his career in public aquariums as a volunteer at the National Aquarium, Baltimore, while he was still in high school. Since that time, Andy helped open the Kingdom of the Seas Aquarium at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo before returning to the National Aquarium, where he has worked for 17 years.
Andy relocated to the National Aquarium, Washington, DC, when the facility partnered with the National Aquarium, Baltimore. He oversees the Husbandry, Animal Health, Conservation, and Facilities departments, helping to renovate the nation's oldest aquarium.
As an expert in his field, Andy has worked on a number of publications including authoring two chapters of the Elasmobranch Husbandry Manual, a resource documenting the care of sharks and rays in aquaria.
Andy serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for REEF (Reef Environmental Education Foundation), an organization committed to getting recreational divers involved in citizen science through active surveying of fish abundance and diversity.
His lifelong passion for sharks began when he saw his first one at age 5 while snorkeling in the Florida Keys. He has been working with sharks for nearly 20 years, encountering more than 40 different species including tigers, bulls, great hammerheads, and deep water six gills. Ironically, the only time he was bitten was by a relatively tame nurse shark in an aquarium. Of particular interest to Andy is the tiger shark.
Andy and his wife Jessica, also a marine biologist, are avid scuba divers and fish surveyors. They and their daughter Paige live in the Baltimore area.
