The Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research was created to address the data gaps and research needs to conserve sea turtles in Texas, the western Gulf and throughout the Gulf of Mexico. The Center seeks to organize sea turtle biologists in the region and speak with one voice to attract attention, and funding, for sea turtle research activities and conservation priorities that will protect sea turtle populations and their vital habitats from the beaches to the ocean. The Center’s purpose is to create collaborative relationships with other sea turtle researchers, and sea turtle research entities across the Gulf of Mexico and to positively benefit undergraduate students, graduate students, early career scientists, as well as the citizens of Texas. It is a partnership of Texas A&M University, the National Park Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research will serve as a platform that will attract scientists from academia, industry, state and federal agencies, as well as internationally, who will contribute to finding solutions to the threats that sea turtles face today.

About the Guest Speaker

Christopher D. Marshall is a Professor in the Department of Marine Biology and the Director for the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research at Texas A&M University, Galveston Campus. He also has an appointment in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology at Texas A&M University, College Station and is a Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of Natural History. Dr. Marshall has a long record of sea turtle, sirenian and pinniped research and conservation. His sea turtle experience extends back 25+ years and includes work in Florida, Mexico, Japan, Qatar and now Texas. and includes work on nesting beaches, in-water capture and tagging, captive sea turtle research and stranding and rehabilitation of sea turtles. He is a recent recipient of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service Award for Leadership in Sea Turtle Stranding, Rescue and Rehabilitation and the Regional Chair for South-East USA International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Sirenian Specialist Group. His work at the National Museum of Natural History has resulted in the discovery of a new fossil whale species and two new pinniped species.