Faculty, Staff, & Affiliates

Hannah Vander Zanden

Associate Professor & Director, ACCSTR
Department of Biology
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Email: hvz@ufl.edu

Hannah’s research centers on migration and trophic ecology of sea turtles and other organisms. She uses stable isotope analysis to understand the spatial ecology and resource use of individuals.

Karen A. Bjorndal

Professor Emeritus & Former Director, ACCSTR
Department of Biology
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Email: bjorndal@ufl.edu

Karen’s research focuses on nutritional ecology and demography of sea turtles with an emphasis on how nutrition regulates their productivity. She also evaluates the roles of sea turtles in marine ecosystems and how these ecosystems have changed as a result of the drastic declines in sea turtle populations.

Cathi L. Campbell

Department of Biology, ACCSTR
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Email: clcampbell@ufl.edu

Cathi’s research has focussed on sea turtle demography, nesting ecology, habitat use, and human use and impacts. She co-founded and co-directed a sea turtle conservation program in Nicaragua, and more recently has consulted with various organizations regarding conservation planning for sea turtles.

Stephen Connett & Barbara Crouchley

Email: lonetagger@outlook.com; vancrouch@cox.net

Captain Stevie Connett and Barbara Crouchely have been valued affiliates of the ACCSTR for many years in The Bahamas and the Azores. They are now key affiliates in our expanded program into the US Virgin Islands. Their work focuses on movements of sea turtles and on the distribution and progression of the disease fibropapillomatosis. They also conduct educational programs in marine biology and conservation in schools and for the general public. Photo: David Trescot

Ray R. Carthy

Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, USGS, and
Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
College of Agricultural and Life Sciences
Email: ngosi@ufl.edu

Ray focuses on sea turtle nesting biology and juvenile sea turtle demographics and habitat use. His research targets behavioral and physiological responses to anthropogenic, stochastic and climate change factors at both the individual and population levels, and seeks to inform coastal conservation and management objectives.

David J. Duffy

Rising Star Condron Family Endowed Associate Professor
Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience & Sea Turtle Hospital, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Email: duffy@whitney.ufl.edu

Dave focuses on threats, disease and genetics of sea turtles to improve their rehabilitation and conservation. His lab works to better understand, treat and prevent the sea turtle tumor disease fibropapillomatosis (FP), which has viral, host and environmental drivers. They also research plastic ingestion in young sea turtles, and use environmental DNA (wildlife forensics) from water, nesting beach sand, and air to better understand sea turtle habitat usage, the pathogens to which they are exposed, and the health of the ecosystems they inhabit.

Catherine “Cat” Eastman

Program Manager
Sea Turtle Hospital, Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Email: cbeastman@whitney.ufl.edu

Cat Eastman has worked in sea turtle conservation in Florida since 1998. A founding member of the Whitney Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Hospital team, she helped establish the facility in 2013 and has guided its growth since its opening in 2015. As Program Manager, she oversees operations, education, and outreach, connecting clinical care with research and conservation. Cat holds a Master of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences from the University of Florida, where her graduate work examined the health impacts of epibionts on juvenile green sea turtles in Northeast Florida.

Michael G. Frick

Department of Biology
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Email: mfrick@ufl.edu

Mike’s research focuses on the foraging ecology and diets of sea turtles, the life histories and taxonomy of the plants and animals that attach to and live upon sea turtles (epibionts), and the reproductive ecology of sea turtles in the southeastern United States.

Alexandra G. Gulick

National Park Service
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve
Email: alexandra_gulick@nps.gov
Website: http://alexandragulick.weebly.com/

Alexandra is a lead Marine Ecologist for the Division of Resource Management at Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve. Her work broadly focuses on developing monitoring programs for managing multiple components of the park’s marine food webs. As courtesy faculty with the ACCSTR, her research focuses on the foraging and nutritional ecology of green turtles, and grazing dynamics in seagrass ecosystems. Alexandra is a former graduate student and postdoc of Karen Bjorndal’s lab.

Jessica S. Kahler

Department of Sociology and Criminology & Law
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Email: jkahler@ufl.edu

Jessica’s research focuses on conservation criminology with an emphasis on community-based management, wildlife poaching and guardianship, and wildlife crime prevention strategies such as the use of situational crime prevention, a mainstream policing approach, to respond to environmental crimes.

Cynthia J. Lagueux

Department of Biology, ACCSTR
College of Liberal Arts & sciences
Email: clagueux@ufl.edu

Cynthia’s research focuses on human use patterns of marine turtle take and participatory conservation measures. Her work also includes nesting ecology, population monitoring and trends, training and education, and capacity building of local stakeholders. Together with Cathi Campbell, she co-founded and co-directed a sea turtle conservation program in Nicaragua for 17 years. She continues to conduct research and conservation activities along the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua.

Mariela Pajuelo

Florida Museum of Natural History
Department of Natural History
Email: mpajuelo@floridamuseum.ufl.edu

Mariela’s research focuses on the trophic ecology and movements of sea turtles and on the impact of fisheries on sea turtle populations and other endangered marine megafauna. In addition to her research, Mariela focuses her efforts on training students on how to disseminate their science beyond their fields of study.

Joseph B. Pfaller

Courtesy Faculty, ACCSTR
Science Advisor, Caretta Research Project
Email: jpfaller@ufl.edu

Joe is Courtesy Faculty with the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research (ACCSTR) and a Science Advisor for the Caretta Research Project, a long-term sea turtle monitoring program in Georgia, USA. His research focuses on sea turtle population biology and methods by which scientists and managers generate demographic rates and evaluate population trends. Joe’s research also includes studies on the interactions between sea turtles and their hitchhikers (epibionts).

Brian A. Stacy

NOAA Fisheries
Office of Protected Resources
Email: Brian.Stacy@noaa.gov

Brian is a Veterinary Medical Officer within NOAA’s National Sea Turtle Program.  He provides veterinary support and training for sea turtle stranding networks within the US and abroad, investigates causes of strandings and mass events, and oversees a variety of medical and welfare issues related to anthropogenic activities, animal health, and disease in threatened and endangered sea turtles.

Nicole I. Stacy

Aquatic Animal Health Program
College of Veterinary Medicine
Email: StacyN@ufl.edu

Nicole’s primary area of interest is clinical pathology of exotic species, especially aquatics, and its application to wildlife conservation. In addition to her diagnostic work, she is strongly interested in improving clinical diagnostics and understanding of pathophysiology in sea turtles.