People

Dr. Christopher Marshall is the PI of the lab. His work focuses on integrating morphology, physiology, and behavioral performance of feeding in marine vertebrates to provide information regarding an organism's foraging ecology, and their conservation. This work includes investigations of natural history and comparative neurobiology of sensory systems of marine vertebrates.

Justin in leading our sea turtle foraging ecology studies focusing on using stable isotopes and DNA barcoding to elucidate the ontogenetic shifts of green sea turtles as they recruit to Galveston Island jetties and then back to our bay system. Together we are exploring the importance of jetties and the community that lives on jetties to newly recruited sea turtles.

Madelyn is leading our in-water sea turtle field team and is interested the movement ecology of Galveston Bay Estuary System sea turtles using satellite and acoustic instrumentation. Her work uses Bayesian State Space Models and GAMMS to understand the drivers of sea turtle movement.

Bryan Gahn is a master’s student in the Marine Biology Graduate Interdisciplinary Program. He is interested in marine pollution and understanding the effects of microplastic pollution on the respiration of fishes, especially bait-fish (clupeids) such as anchovies, shad and mackerel.

In addition to serving as the Program Coordinator Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital Manager for the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research. Theresa is also pursuing a Ph.D. in Marine Biology that will focus on sea turtle eDNA and distribution of sea turtles in the Galveston Bay Estuary System.

In addition to overseeing our nesting program, Paige is pursuing a M.S. thesis in Marine Biology. Her research focuses on understanding the distribution of ages of green and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in the Galveston Bay Estuary System. She is using skeletochronology to age our turtles. This involves the collection of humerus (upper arm bones) from sea turtle necropsies, cross-sectioning the bones and staining them to observe the many rings of growth that can be used to age sea turtles.

Theresa Morris is a Program Coordinator with the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research. Her primary duties are sea turtle rehabilitation and water quality control with our new sea turtle hospital. Theresa is also involved in the sea turtle stranding network and educational outreach.

Paige oversees our long-term nesting program, the Sea Aggie Sea Turtle Patrol. We patrol 87 miles of beach from the Texas-Louisiana border to Surfside Texas. The mission is to relocate Kemp’s ridley sea turtle eggs, and any sea turtle eggs, to Padre Island National Seashore’s incubation facility where they can be better protected. This program involved 300+ volunteers from the Galveston Bay Area Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists, Galveston community member, and students from Texas A&M University at Galveston.

Carolyn returns to TAMUG help us lead the Center’s Marine Debris Program, which is vital to cleaning our beaches and shores for nesting sea turtles and shore birds. Our efforts include in-water cleanup that remove ghost nests, monofilament line, other fishing gear, as well as large pieces of debris that trap sea turtles. We focus on sea turtle stranding hotspots.

John oversees our UTV maintenance, deployment, and fuel supply for the Sea Aggie Sea Turtle Patrol. He is also involved in nesting program training, is a member of nest response team, and participated in all of the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research’s Conservation Programs.