Marine Turtle Research, Ecology, and Conservation Group

Mariana Fuentes

Principal Investigator

Professor Fuentes is a marine conservation biologist, whose work provides critical scientific basis to aid the recovery of threatened marine megafauna, in particular marine turtles. Her research draws together a wide range of disciplines, and she often work closely with various stakeholders on interdisciplinary research topics and management issues. Her expertise is in integrating field-based ecology with systematic conservation planning, decision-theory approaches, climate modelling, and applied qualitative and geographic spatial analysis. She uses these tools to explore how marine megafauna, especially marine turtles, interact with environmental processes and how they are impacted by current and future disturbances. Her passion for the ocean and marine megafauna and her concerns about their future has prompted her to develop a research program that addresses real-world issues and focuses on connecting people to science for effective change. Meet the alumni

Postdoctoral Researchers

Dr. Armando Barsante

Armando is a collaborative conservation scientist translating satellite telemetry and risk modeling into management-ready decisions for wildlife, with an emphasis on marine megafauna. He partners with universities, NGOs, and agencies across the globe to co-produce actionable science and clear map-based products. He has 20+ years of marine turtle conservation experience in Brazil and more recently in the United States. He helps teams with study design, modeling, and communicating results that matter for management. His publications can be found here, and more information on his research can be found here.

Contact: abarsantesantos@fsu.edu.

Dr. Ian Silver-Gorges

Ian’s work has been largely transdisciplinary, with deeper focus on stable isotope ecology and population genetics/-omics. Ian will be studying the synergies between stress and disease in green sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico during an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship with the MTRECG at FSU and the Savage Lab at UCF. More about his work can be found here.

Contact: ian.silvergorges@gmail.com.

Ph.D. Students

Alexa Putillo-Wehry, Ph.D. Candidate

Alexa’s research focuses on the foraging ecology and habitat use of marine turtles, examining how diet composition and selection reflect ecological and environmental drivers. She integrates stable isotope and fatty acid analyses, prey availability assessments, and biologging devices to characterize foraging strategies across species. By linking biochemical tracers with behavioral and environmental data, her work aims to elucidate the ecological roles of marine turtles and their contributions to coastal ecosystem structure and function. More on her work can be found here.

Contact: aputillo@fsu.edu.

Tess DeSerisy,

Ph.D. Student

Having spent over a decade working on marine turtle nesting beaches, Tess has witnessed firsthand the growing threats of plastic pollution. Because of this, she is broadly interested in exploring how plastic pollution intersects with the ecology of marine turtles. Her current research focuses on the movement of ocean plastics and their influence on critical nesting habitats. By integrating oceanographic modeling with field-based conservation, she aims to improve our ability to predict and mitigate these impacts.

Contact: td25e@fsu.edu.

M.Sc. Students

Stephanie Gkionis, M.Sc. Student.

Steph’s research focuses on marine turtle health, particularly the effects of chemical pollution on physiological and clinical health parameters in marine turtles. Her current project analyzes trace metal levels in red blood cells from green, loggerhead, and Kemp’s ridley turtles in Crystal River, Florida, and investigates potential links with health markers to assess nonlethal effects of environmental pollution.

Contact: sv24f@fsu.edu.

Sophie Rosengarten, M.Sc. Student.

Sophie’s research focuses on the inter- and intra-specific interactions between three species of marine turtles (loggerhead, green, and Kemp’s ridley) at an important foraging ground off the northwestern Gulf coast of Florida. Specifically, she is interested in the energetic costs of different types of interactions and their relation to population and community dynamics.

Contact: srosengarten@fsu.edu.

Alida Johnson, M.Sc. Student.

Ali’s research interests focus on marine turtle hatchling development and survival with particular interests in the environmental and maternal factors that influence early life stages. Her master’s research focuses on how loggerhead hatchling fitness, morphology and incubation temperatures are affected by inundation.

Contact: amj24a@fsu.edu.

Undergraduate Students

Ava DuBois

Kayla Frameli

WIMSE 2025

Lauren Naccarato

WIMSE student, 2023- 2025

Polina Smirnova

WIMSE 2025

Prospective Graduate Students

Thank you for your interest in considering the Marine Turtle Research, Ecology, and Conservation Group for conducting your graduate studies at the Department of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Science at Florida State University.

I look for mature students who are motivated and hard-working and already have a clear idea of their research interests when they enter the program. Almost all of my past Ph.D. students completed Master’s degrees before entering the Ph.D. program or have demonstrated experience in the field.

Funding is a major determinant in acceptance into the program, so I strongly encourage anyone applying to the program to apply for an NSF graduate fellowship, and also consider the EPA STAR, Dr. Nancy Foster Scholarship Program (NOAA), and NMFS/SeaGrant Fellowship Program. Funding deadlines are usually one year before you might start your studies, so planning ahead is crucial.

Still interested in joining the lab? Contact us with the following information: (1) a CV, (2) a copy of your transcript, (3) a summary of research and field experience, and (4) a short statement of research interests.