As part of his master’s coursework, Noah Riccio, designed a video game, supplementary website, and video material that cover several bases involving shark ecology and conservation risks.

About the project: Toro is a text adventure game set in the marine habitats of North Florida during their most volatile state in years. You are a bull shark, and life begins in a state of relative ease, with the only common threat being predators. However, such a luxury is short-lived. As time passes and various pollutants and unregulated activities persist in and around the river system, life will suddenly become more difficult… even for apex predators such as the bull shark. Through the game, users explore four distinct habitats with various fauna and visual styles and discover new details about this fantastic river system and the impacts we have on it over time. Please note that game will likely undergo revision and further updates in the future.

The production of this game was also directly supported by marine biology consultant/shark expert, Jamie Rose, and music composer/intellectual, Ralph Mangeno.

About Noah Riccio: Riccio of Jacksonville, Florida, works as a field biologist and is working on his Miami University master’s degree in Project Dragonfly’s Advanced Inquiry Program (AIP) with web-based Miami graduate courses and face-to-face experiential learning at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens and other sites throughout the greater Jacksonville area. Riccio is an aspiring creature artist — enthusiastic of all things zoology and paleontology — and enjoys illustrating various animals in his spare time.