Melissa Berube

Graduate Student
Loma Linda University

Melissa is working on sea turtle research in Roatan, Honduras. She is investigating the home ranges and habitat characteristics of juvenile hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) by tracking turtles through radio telemetry. Her work is an important componant of the Turtle Awareness and Protection Studies (TAPS) program under the Protective Turtle Ecology Center for Training, Outreach and Research, Inc. (ProTECTOR). She will also be involved with education outreach and local community capacity-building in regards to new conservation measures for all sea turtle species found in Honduras.

When Melissa arrived at the end of June, 2007 we quickly set to work developing and outlining her project scope, goals and methods. Within a short time, we were setting to work on fixing radio transmitters to juvenile hawksbills. After a few days of careful observations, we began releasing the telemetered turtles back into the wild and started an intensive schedule of tracking them each day to collect spatial data on each individual.

“This work will provide the first characterizations of home ranges for juvenile hawksbills from Honduras and contribute to decision-making for the management of sea turtles in these waters – it’s amazing to be a part of that!”