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A Year in the Life of a Marine Laboratory Coordinator

March 20, 2024

In her featured article, A Year in the life of a Marine Laboratory Coordinator, Turla describes her many “day in the life” marine lab duties. Readers get a well-rounded glimpse into her daily responsibilities and how they change over the course of the nesting season. Read excerpts from Emily’s article that describe her busy, yet fascinating, days as a Lab Coordinator! Read more.

FAU Marine Lab Faculty, Fellows, and More at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center EcoWatch Lecture Series!

March 17, 2024

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, neighbor of the FAU Marine Lab, hosts an EcoWatch Lecture Series each spring before sea turtle nesting season starts in full swing. In the lineup this season were several friends of the Marine Lab, including SEA Scholars alumni, our Postdoctoral Fellow, and faculty. Let’s dive in! Read more.

Finding the “sweet spot”: the impact of incubation temperature on leatherback hatchling development

February 19, 2024

Many characteristics set leatherbacks apart from the other six sea turtle species: their pliable and leathery shell, their entirely open-ocean lifestyle, and their exclusively gelatinous diet. (Imagine a life with only Jell-o!) However, just like all sea turtles, leatherback hatchlings must make the journey of a lifetime, crawling from their sandy nests on the beach to the ocean, in a race against predation and sunrise. Read more.

With Whipping tails, thresher sharks are the “Indiana Jones” of the Sea!

February 19, 2024

Thresher sharks have many characteristics that set them apart from all other shark species, most notably their extremely long, machete-like tail. Read more.

FAU Marine Lab’s 2023 by the Numbers

January 29, 2024

2023 was a big one for the FAU Marine Lab! Below is our Review of 2023 by the numbers, representing just a snapshot of what was accomplished by the six wonderful principal investigators and their students that conduct research in our lab. Read more.

Scientists to Seattle for SICB Science Conference 2024

January 28, 2024

To kick off the new year, several thousand scientists flocked to Seattle, Washington for the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) meeting. This is one of the largest annual meetings on record! SICB 2024 featured over 2000 presentations, 15 workshops, and 11 world-class symposia. Read more.

A sea turtle’s take on Thanksgiving break

November 26, 2023

Many of us spent the last week heading home for the holidays. Perhaps some of you are still in a chaos-induced stupor from all the food, family, and travel. As I sit in the airport surrounded by others ending their holiday escapades, I wonder: “What is a sea turtle’s take on Thanksgiving break?” Read more.

Diving into the SEA Scholars program and its latest outreach initiatives

November 21, 2023

Here at the FAU Marine Laboratory, our mission goes beyond doing research and caring for loggerheads, leatherbacks, and green sea turtles. We also take great pride in connecting and sharing our marine science discoveries with the public! Read more.

How Florida seagrasses are impacted by climate change: an interview with Dr. Marguerite Koch

October 26, 2023
Many of us understand the importance of terrestrial plants as they provide us with food and oxygen. However, we seldom appreciate the contributions made by marine plants, like seagrasses, to maintaining healthy oceans and the biodiversity of its inhabitants! Read more.

Halloween Hijinks: Trick-or-Treating with Octopuses

October 10, 2023
Trolls aren’t the only creatures living under bridges this Halloween! Nestled in South Florida’s Lake Worth Lagoon is a living jewel of biodiversity under a 65-foot-high roadway called the Blue Heron Bridge. Read more.

Major Threats to Sea Turtles

September 19, 2023
Sea turtles are docile, yet resilient, creatures. They hatch with long flippers and armor equipped to ward off some predators. These prehistoric reptiles swam in our oceans when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Read more.

Tech Trek: Inspiring Young Women in STEM

September 14, 2023
How can we encourage young women to pursue careers in traditionally male-dominated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields? Read more.

Tiny Tagged Turtles

August 25, 2023
Where do little sea turtles go after emerging from nests on the beach? Read more.

The Marine Lab heads ‘Down Unda’

August 10, 2023
Students and faculty from the FAU Marine Lab attended the International Congress of Vertebrate Morphology (ICVM) in Cairns, Australia! Read more.

It’s Hatchling Season: Come see our turtles!

July 18, 2023
It’s hatchling time! The 2023 nesting season is officially underway as the lab begins filling up with the three species of sea turtles that we work with at the FAU Marine Lab. Read more.

Turtle-y Awesome Traits

July 17, 2023
Here at the FAU Marine Lab, we might be a little biased, but we think our shelled friends are turtle-y awesome! Read more.

Searching for answers in bones: Jim Elliott Award recipient

June 14, 2023
Ph.D. candidate, Jamie Knaub, based in Dr. Marianne Porter’s Florida Atlantic Biomechanics (FAB) Lab recently presented her work at the 4th biennial Tomography for Scientific Advancement (ToScA) North America symposium in Austin, Texas! As a recipient of the Jim Elliott Award in 2021, her presentation was one of the featured talks at this year’s event! Read more.

World Oceans Day: Why is it Important?

June 14, 2023
On June 8^th, World Oceans Day was celebrated! It is a holiday that reminds us to respect the oceans and how they play essential roles in Earth’s ability to remain habitable. Read more.

Hogarth Research Cruise

April 26, 2023
What do you get when you mix 43 students, 10 sharks, and 4 days of cruising on a 78-foot research vessel? Well lots of learning, of course! Read more.

2022 Sea Turtle Season Comes to a Close (Part III)

April 25, 2023
As we prepare to bring in the first hatchlings of the 2023 season, here we wrap up our series on what we learned in 2022. Read more.

FAU Marine Lab Students Present (and win awards!) Near and Far

April 18, 2023
Spring is a great time for our researchers to share their work with their peers at two major sea turtle conferences! This marks the first time both conferences have been held in-person since February of 2020, and our researchers were thrilled to rub elbows with their peers and mentors! Our students presented groundbreaking work and won awards! Read more.

2022 Sea Turtle Season Comes to a Close (Part II)

April 25, 2023
Every year, after the last of the season’s turtles are released, the FAU Marine Lab uses that “offseason” time to analyze results and do lab repairs. In this article, we highlight the hard work some of our graduate students have accomplished over the last year. Read more.

The turtles are coming…but so is the Sargassum!

April 25, 2023
Let’s start this article off with two riddles:

What has mustard-colored branches, is full of hiding spots, and food for little sea turtles?
What is brown, stinky, and a barrier for hatchling turtles crawling to the surf-line?
Read more.

2022 Sea Turtle Season Comes to a Close (Part I)

March 25, 2023
The 2022 turtle season for the FAU Marine Lab came to a close on March 21st as the last of our turtles were released into the Gulf Stream. Since May 2022, a total of 299 turtles –– all three species that hatch from Floridian nests (loggerhead, green, and leatherback) were studied in our lab. Read more.

Meet Octo-Girl

February 28, 2023
Dr. Chelsea Bennice, or “Octo-Girl”, is the new Postdoctoral researcher leading our Glenn W. and Cornelia T. Bailey Marine SEA Scholars program, and we are so grateful to have her join our team! Read more.

2023 FAU Three Minute Thesis Competition

February 28, 2023
“An 80,000-word thesis would take 9 hours to present…their time limit is 3 minutes.” This year, the FAU Marine Lab was represented by Ph.D. students Madeleine Hagood from Dr. Marianne Porter’s lab and Ivana Serra from Dr. Jeanette Wyneken’s lab. Read more.

New Year, Same Turtles

January 26, 2023
“How old are those turtles?” is a question FAU Marine Lab Coordinator, Emily Turla, hears often from our Visitor’s Gallery. However, this time of year, an influx of visitors has her noticing some new comments. One in particular: “These turtles look a lot bigger than my last visit!” Read more.

New Year, New Science: Marine Lab Attends Conference to Communicate Novel Research

January 26, 2023
To kick off the new year in science style, many researchers traveled from around the world to attend the Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology (SICB) annual conference. Read more.

12(ish) Days of Winter Break

December 18, 2022
Here at the FAU Marine Lab, faculty and students alike celebrate a variety of winter holidays. What better way to kick-off our two-week winter break from classes and to highlight the accomplishments of 2022 than with our own marine-themed take on a Christmas classic…We give you, the 12(ish) Days of Winter Break! Read more.

Florida Keys Sea Turtle Workshop

December 15, 2022
FAU Marine Lab researchers and our director attended the Florida Keys Sea Turtle Workshop in Marathon, FL. This workshop is an opportunity for researchers and veterinary staff in and around Florida to gather and share ideas regarding sea turtle veterinary care, rehabilitation, and husbandry. Read more.

A Seat at the (Outreach) Table

November 17, 2022
The FAU Marine Lab is uniquely free and open to the public, and our outreach efforts do not stop there! In the last month, students, staff, and scholars have had a seat at the outreach table for three different events. Read more.

Meet the Turtle Transfer Program Ambassadors

November 17, 2022
These special ambassador turtles will leave our facility after we have collected the data we need and after they reach at least 120 grams and will stay with their new educational facility until they reach a juvenile weight before being released out into the ocean. Read more.

Spooky Science Season

October 24, 2022
Here at the FAU Marine Lab, spooky season is one of our favorites, and we are sad to see it come to an end. However, the “frightful” themes don’t have to stop! Read more.

Hurricane Prepping: The Turtle Research Version

October 23, 2022
How does our lab prepare to be impacted by hurricanes and major storms? Here is a firsthand account from FAU Marine Lab Assistant Coordinator and PhD student Emily Turla of the steps taken in the days leading up to Hurricane Ian this past month. Read more.

TODAY Show Features FAU Sea Turtle Release and Conservation Research

September 22, 2022
NBC’s TODAY Show featured some of the FAU Marine Lab's critical sea turtle conservation research. Jeanette Wyneken, Ph.D., professor and director of the lab discusses why there are more female turtles than male turtles hatching. Watch here.

NOAA Career Opportunities and Networking Panel

September 17, 2022
This month, the FAU Marine Lab hosted eight members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for a career opportunities and networking panel event. Read more.

Leatherback Hatchlings in a Changing World

August 30, 2022
The leatherback is the largest of all sea turtle species, and because of their highly migratory nature and unique lifestyle characteristics, our ability to study them has been limited. Read more.

Making a 3D Turtle

August 16, 2022
Ultimately, we are working towards creating a fully virtual 3D model of the internal anatomy of a hatchling sea turtle. Read More.

Offshore Turtle Transport

August 16, 2022
After their brief stay at the lab, it is time to let those turtles live out the rest of their lives in the Big Blue! Read More.

SharkFest 2022

July 26, 2022
The research of FAU Marine Lab Principal Investigators, graduate students, and alumni are featured in several National Geographic SharkFest programs. Read More.

Close Encounters of the Turtle Kind

July 26, 2022
Sitting on a beach alone while a storm takes over the landscape and an endangered turtle leaves the next generation of her species in the sand. Read More.

Sand in my Passenger Seat

April 29, 2022
Sam Trail, PhD student in the FAU Marine Lab, receives graduate student 1st runner-up designation in the third annual Kosoff Pen-to-Paper Writing Contest. Read More.

Carbon Dioxide, Ocean Acidification and Chalk Algae

June 9, 2022
Dr. Marguerite Koch-Rose, Professor of Biological Sciences at FAU and a principal investigator at the FAU Marine Lab, studies ocean acidification threats to chalk algae. Read More.

WPTV Interview: Climate Change Tipping the Gender Balance of Some Species

June 9, 2022
WPTV featured the Marine Science Lab, including the director of the lab and professor, Jeanette Wyneken, Ph.D., to discuss how hotter temperatures, due to climate change, are leading to more female sea turtles hatching than males. Watch here.

Bye Bye Blacktips

May 17, 2022
The 2022 blacktip shark fishing season is coming to an end, and it has been an incredible one! We’ve caught and released a record number of sharks this year just offshore of John D. MacArthur State Park, with 45 sharks and counting! Read More.

Switching Gears

April 22, 2022
The FAU Marine Lab is usually bustling with sea turtle hatchlings from mid-May of each year through until the end of March in the following year, but how do our students keep busy when our tanks are empty. Read More.

Women in Science Panel

April 22, 2022
Last month, the FAU Marine Lab had the honor of hosting a panel conversation between students and three amazing women in STEM. We are incredibly thankful to our panelists for sharing their knowledge and experience with us as we continue to grow as a lab, university, and community. Read More.

ISTS40: FAU Marine Lab presentations and awards were plentiful

April 2022
FAU Marine Lab faculty and graduate students attended the virtual 40th International Sea Turtle Symposium (ISTS40) earlier this month. ISTS40 was a four-day global event hosted entirely online from March 25th- 28th. Read More.

Earth Day 2022

April 2022
Every year, on the 22nd of April, Earth Day, we come together to celebrate the love and appreciation for our beautiful planet Earth. This day raises awareness of the importance of caring for our environment and is a catalyst for action. But have you ever wondered where this holiday came from? Read More.

Free public talk from postdoc, Dr. Sean Williamson, in May!

April 2022
In May 2022, Dr. Sean Williamson, our FAU Marine Laboratory Postdoctoral Fellow and the Manager of our Glenn W. and Cornelia T. Bailey Marine SEA Scholars program, will be giving a public talk as a part of the 2022 FAU Research In Action series. Read More.

2022 Three Minute Thesis Competition

April 2022
2022 brings us Florida Atlantic University’s sixth annual participation in the Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) in which graduate students from all disciplines present their research in 3 minutes or less with a single visual slide. A difficult measure of clear science communication! Read More.

2022 Sea Turtle Day at Gumbo Limbo!

March 2022
This past weekend we celebrated Sea Turtle Day at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center! Families and friends joined us as we educated the community about the different sea turtle species that frequent our South Florida waters. We had various sea turtle shells and specimens on display for the public to ask questions and learn more about our marine life. Read More.

The Leatherback Sea Turtles Have Returned!

March 2022
The 2022 sea turtle nesting season has started and the first ones up to nest are the leatherbacks, followed by loggerheads and then green turtles. Read More.

Celebrating Diversity in the Sciences, Discussing Obstacles

March 21, 2022
Last month we welcomed back Dr. Cinda Scott, Jonathan Molineaux, and Carlee Jackson from last year’s panel to continue discussions about obstacles faced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in Marine Science and ideas to increase equity and inclusion in the curriculum and field. Read More.

The Journey From Community Inspiration to the Ocean

February 2022
Each year the FAU Marine Lab partners with Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to provide a sea turtle to another educational facility. Read More.

FAU Marine Lab in Phoenix for SICB Conference

February 2022
Various members of the Marine Lab recently attended the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Read More.

Reporting from LagoonFest

November 2021
The FAU Marine Lab took advantage of the opportunity to head to downtown West Palm Beach and participate in this year’s Lagoonfest. Read More.

Winter is Here... And So Are the Sharks

November 2021
While the sheer sight of these massive aggregations may be intimidating to some, it presents an exciting research opportunity for local marine scientists. Read More.