The Diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) is the only strictly estuarine turtle in the world. Terrapins have a relative unique ecology and a history of overexploitation. Over the last half century, terrapin populations have declined throughout their range (Cape Cod, MA to Corpus Christi, TX). This talk will describe research that began in 2007 to document the state-wide status of terrapin populations in Georgia and how –over the subsequent decade – research identified patterns of human-caused terrapin mortality that led to novel management actions and local community efforts to stem terrapin declines and recover populations.

Dr. John Maerz is a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor and Professor of Vertebrate Ecology in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. He is an affiliated faculty with UGA’s Center for Integrative Conservation’s ICON Ph.D. program and an adjunct professor in the Odum School of Ecology. He received his Ph.D. from Binghamton University in 2000 and was a Research Associate at Cornell University until 2005. His research focuses on the effects of terrestrial and aquatic environmental change on the ecology of wildlife – notably amphibians and reptiles; how variation in the abundance of animals affects terrestrial and freshwater ecosystem processes; and developing science-based tools to help communities effectively conserve wildlife. He has published 125 papers and book chapters on wildlife ecology and conservation, was a Co-PI and member of the Science Advisory Committee for the National Science Foundation’s Coweeta Long-Term Ecological Research site, and served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Wildlife Management for 13 years. He is co-chair of the Diamondback Terrapin Working Group and chairs the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles Pre-College Program to engage high school students in amphibian and reptile biology. He is the faculty advisor to the University of Georgia Herpetological Society, and he teaches annual courses in animal behavior, herpetology, and sustaining human societies and natural environments including an annual course in New Zealand and Australia.

Please email bcnatclub@gmail.com to get a link to join this meeting. You will be able to join the meeting beginning at 7:00pm and the talk will begin at 7:15pm.