ECO TURTLE TALES Photo courtesy Eckerd College
Chompers, a baby gopher tortoise the size of a large orange, spends its days really putting away the lettuce, kale and cabbage in the Eckerd College greenhouse. “It was the first one hatched, and it’s the biggest,” said Assistant Professor of Biology Jeff Goessling, Ph.D. “We named it Chompers because it just eats and eats.” The tiny grazing machine is one of 37 gopher tortoises entrusted to Goessling and his student researchers for a head-starting program in conjunction with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Surviving to maturity is a challenge for gopher tortoises, who can grow to be about 15 inches long, because the eggs are food sources for predators and it takes them years to reach a size where they aren’t easy prey, he explained. “This [Alabama] population is so spread out and dwindling that it could be gone in a blink. I prefer habitat interventions, but I understand something more drastic was needed to protect this group of animals.” Eckerd College senior Celina Ceballos followed turtles all the way into her dream of studying abroad with a grant from the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program. From childhood summers helping diamondback terrapins safely nest on the Jersey Shore to conducting research on the gopher tortoise population at St. Petersburg’s Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, with Goessling, turtle appreciation has been Celina’s guiding light. “Sea turtles, in particular, are just amazing organisms with supercool migratory patterns and nesting habits,” said the senior marine science student, Delaware native and current Vero Beach resident. After graduation, Celina will travel to Guanaja, Honduras, a bay island near Roatán, to study sea turtles by satellite tracking of post-nesting females, validating Nesting Safe technology and nest monitoring, and determining the impacts of sand temperature on hatchling running speed for ProTECTOR Inc., a nonprofit research organization headed by Loma Linda University Professor of Biology Stephen G. Dunbar, Ph.D.
NBC SPOTLIGHT: MICROPLASTICS
On April 16, Shannon Gowans, Ph.D., and Amy Siuda, Ph.D., were ecstatic to see NBC News national reporter Kerry Sanders approach the MS2, a college boat used for marine science research. Sanders spent the day with the marine science professors learning about microplastics, the microscopic plastic pollutants that end up in waterways and the food chain through smaller organism consumption. Sanders witnessed sample collection, as well as an analysis by student research staff. In the end, the report aired on the TODAY show and across MSNBC platforms during Earth Week. Siuda said getting the word out about microplastics is an opportunity to do something about this important issue. “We can never recover all the microplastics in the water now, but we can change our behaviors and put less plastic into the environment,” she said.
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