Welcome!

What I do...

I am a Research Associate in the lab of Dr. David Owens, at the Grice Marine Laboratory, College of Charleston, in Charleston, South Carolina.

Currently, my work involves the study of the reproductive biology of adult male loggerhead sea turtles. We collected adult males in 2006 and 2007 in Cape Canaveral, Florida; and I was in charge of comparing several techniques to assess their reproductive activity. We used ultrasound, looked at the softness of their plastron, and we surgically inserted a scope (called laparoscopy) to confirm the reproductive activity level of each adult male.

I also run testosterone assays for several sea turtle scientists, which allow us to differentiate the sex of juvenile sea turtles and to calculate sex ratios of specific populations over time. We think global warming could impact the survival of sea turtles because the sex of their offspring is thermally-driven during the incubation period. If the temperature continues to increase, sea turtles might only produce females, which could have unprecedent effects in the future.

What I'm interested in...

My research interests are oriented towards the ecology and demography of sea turtles, as well as physiological ecology, or how animals respond and adapt physiologically to their environment.

I am also interested in how any human-caused environmental modifications, like pollution or habitat degradation, effect the health and survival of endangered species.

Ultimately, I would like to link these results to the conservation of endangered species at the international level. I have worked mainly with sea turtles, which I think make an interesting and challenging model because of their global distribution. However, my interests are more general and would apply to any other threatened or endangered species.