Dr. Shimada received his B.S. (1993) and M.S.(1994) in Geology from Fort Hays State University, and his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1999.

His love is vertebrate paleontology, the study of the evolution of vertebrates, which he has been studying since he was 12 years old. He has focused on sharks and their evolution. He has made presentations on the Cretaceous sharks of Kansas, and more recently on the teeth of modern lamniform sharks. The aim of his current studies is to demonstrate the importance of comparative data applied to the study of shark phylogeny.