Mark R. Wilson

I grew up in the South West of England and attended school in Exeter during the seventies and eighties. During my last two years at school I did absolutely nothing, I didn't even take a pen. Two weeks after leaving school in the early summer of 1985 my working life began at the University of Exeter. In 1997 my first encounter with a basking shark awakened not only a fascination for sharks but also a connection with the ocean that would grow and grow. After a year spent exploring and diving around the world in 2004 and becoming inspired I nervously returned to the classroom in 2005. By 2011 I had an honours degree in marine ecology and a master's degree in marine biodiversity from the University of Plymouth. After graduating I set about looking for work where I could live my dream working in marine conservation. Not everything went as well as planned, and then in early September of 2017 on the Caribbean island of St Martin I found myself directly in the path of hurricane Irma. Surviving her when I truly believed I would not made me question everything.

In late January of 2018 I did something I had never before considered; I sat down and began to write. Irma: Life Lessons from the Worst Storm in Atlantic History is the result.