Padre Island National Seashore - Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery
The Sea Turtle Directory
Country: United States (contiguous)
Organization / Project Name: PAIS Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery
Website: https://www.nps.gov/pais/learn/nature/stsr.htm
Email: donna_shaver@nps.gov
Description: Dr. Donna Shaver is Chief of the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery at Padre Island National Seashore and runs the Sea Turtle Laboratory there. We partner with many organizations in the U.S. and Mexico to study and protect the sea turtles that occur at Padre Island National Seashore and in the Gulf of Mexico. Most of our research involves Kemp's ridley and green turtles, and quantification of marine habitat use by those species. We investigate spatial and temporal trends of sea turtle distribution and mortality factors in Texas and maintain the records of stranded sea turtles and sea turtle nests in Texas. We investigate results of the bi-national effort to form a secondary nesting colony of Kemp's ridley turtles at Padre Island National Seashore.
Species of focus: Kemp’s ridleys (Lepidochelys kempii), Olive ridleys (Lepidochelys olivacea), Hawksbills (Eretmochelys imbricata), Leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea), Loggerheads (Caretta caretta), Green turtles (Chelonia mydas)
Volunteer program: Yes
Tourist activities (Y/N): Yes
Primary Areas of Work: Satellite telemetry, Nesting beach monitoring, In water research, Environmental education/community outreach, Genetic sampling, Stranding response
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/PadreIslandNPS
Instagram Profile: https://www.instagram.com/padreislandnps/