Some of my previous research has focused on:
 

-- Habitat use by gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) on upland habitats in Florida.

Adult gopher tortoise

  

-- Reproduction and nest site selection of striped mud turtles (Kinosternon baurii) in sandhill habitat at the Ecological Research Area of the University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.

                                                                                     Striped mud turtles nest with eggs                                            Xray of striped mud turtle
                                                                                                                                                                                                            showing four eggs
 

Translocation of desert tortoises ( Gopherus agassizii): a conservation strategy.   Desert tortoise habitat is under constant pressure from development and other land uses.  As a consequence, many desert tortoises are displaced from their original homes and kept in holding facilities until their fate is determined.  Translocation of displaced tortoises to reserves and other protected habitats may be a viable conservation strategy.

                                Adult desert tortoise with transmitter at 
                           translocation study site near St. George, Utah.
 

Physical and microhabitat characteristics of burrows and water turnover rates in juvenile desert tortoises at the Ft. Irwin Study Site (FISS) in the Mojave Desert. Microhabitat characteristics of juvenile desert tortoise burrows were measured to determine habitat requirements of this critical stage of the desert tortoises life history. Water turnover rates were measured in juvenile tortoises that occupied burrows differing in overall length and microhabitat characteristics.

-- Selenium uptake in the diet of garter snakes
  In the laboratory at the Biology Department at CSU, Chico, I worked with Drs. Marti Wolfe and Tal Nahir to determine dietary uptake of selenium in fish and garter snakes.  The fish are fed Artemia that have been fed different concentrations of selenized yeast.  The fish are subsequently fed to garter snakes.  Selenium concentrations in tissue and blood samples taken from the fish and snakes are measured periodically.

My current research projects include:

-- Population ecology of the western pond turtle, Clemmys marmorata, in the Sacramento Valley, CA.  (For more details on my pond turtle research, click on Graduate Students from my home page).
 

Range Map of the Western Pond Turtle

Western Pond Turtle Basking

Sexing western pond turtles: Male (left) and female (right). We use two sexually dimorphic characteristics in the field to sex pond turtles.  Males in our populations have a whitish upper lip, whereas, females have a hatched upper lip.  Also, the cloacal opening of males is located more posterior than it is in females (The cloacal opening in females is at or near the level of the posterior carapace margin.) 

--- Nesting ecology and nest site selection of the desert tortoise, Gopherus agassizii, in the Mojave Desert.   (see Christina Loper's page)