Research
Research Projects and Publications
Marine Turtles
Researcher on several different projects involving nesting adult turtles on the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge and juvenile turtles in the brackish and ocean on the East Coast of Florida
Diamondback Terrapins
Researcher on various projects involving the population of diamondback terrapins in New Jersey, mortality of females on roadways, and BRDs on crab traps
Other Research and Projects
In additional to reptiles I have been a part of various research projects involving horseshoe crabs, ospreys and various educational projects and documentaries
20+ Years of Research & Publications
Scientific Research Projects, Publications, Presentations
and Educational Outreach
Below are examples of research projects I have been involved with through the years, authored publications and presentations at various conferences
Marine Turtles
Nesting Adults
Throughout my time at UCF I was the project manager for the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuse. As a researcher and project manager I was in charge of collecting the nesting numbers daily throughout the nesting season and report the weekly numbers to various government agencies. I would author reports and presentations about nesting numbers and hatchling success. I completed observations in areas of erosion preventative projects being done on the beach.
Juvenile Green Turtles
Within the Indian River Lagoon (in Brevard County, FL), the Sabellariid Worm Reef (in Atlantic Ocean, East Coast of FL) and the Trident Submarine Basin (near Cape Canaveral, FL) I conducted research with a team from UCF on population estimates. Marine turtles were captured, tagged, measured and samples taken before releasing back in their environment.
Publications
My master’s thesis entitled “The Prevalence and Severity of Fibropapillomatosis in Juvenile Green Turtles (Chelonia mydas) in Three Habitats on Florida’s East Coast” earned the UCF College of Science Thesis of the Year Award in 2008.
I collaborated with researchers from the University of South Florida and was co-author on the paper “Discovery of a Novel Single-Stranded DNA Virus from a Sea Turtle Fibropapilloma by Using Viral Metagenomics” in the Journal of Virology.
I conducted research on the restoration ecology of nesting adults and hatchling success after hurricanes hit the East Coast of Florida significantly in 2004 and 2005. The county restored areas in 2005 and 2006 and I collected, analyzed and reported out my findings on the responses of nesting adult sea turtles and their hatchling success rates on engineered dunes compared to natural dunes. Original findings for one year were completed as a poster presentation at the Southeast Regional Sea Turtle Meeting in 2007 and the two year comparison findings were completed as a solo presentation at the International Symposium on Sea Turtles in Baja, Mexico in 2008
Currently I am co-authoring two publications in conjunction with my research on fibropapillomatosis in green turtles, an update of the prevalence and severity and a link to environmental data, particularly increased water and air temperatures.
In memory of Dr. Peter Pritchard and Dr. Llew Ehrhart
Diamondback Terrapins
Population Ecology
When interning at the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, NJ I worked on a variety of terrapin projects. One of the projects was studying the population of the diamondback terrapins in the wetlands area in Stone Harbor. I performed catch-and-release protocols to capture diamondback terrapins, tagged and measured each terrapin, and release them back to their original environment. The results showed that the population within the wetlands varied but was stable.
Roadkill study & Incubation of Hatchlings
The second project I worked on was to do driving surveys of the main streets in Stone Harbor, NJ to monitor for female terrapins that were killed due to vehicles. Each dead terrapin was counted and assessed for eggs. If the female had eggs that were not yet laid, the turtle was taken back to the lab and a small surgical procedure was performed to extract the eggs for incubation at Stockton University.
Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs)
The third project I worked on was to continue the research and testing of the Bycatch Reduction Devices, or BRDs, to help decrease the number of terrapins that were drowning in crab traps. We strategically changed the dimensions on the BRD to determine the best size for the BRD to exclude terrapins while keeping the larger crabs in the trap.
Other Research
Osprey Monitoring Program
I worked for the State of New Jersey completing osprey observations of nests for 4 hours once a week to help monitor their population
Horseshoe Crab research
I worked with the the State of New Jersey and Delaware to complete horseshoe crab monitoring surveys on the east coast to determine population, migration and mating patterns.
