Brian Shamblin

My research focuses on the application of genetic tools to inform management and conservation. Much of this work has addressed knowledge gaps in marine turtle life history. Marine turtle populations are defined based on female natal homing, but the scale of this homing behavior is often difficult to infer due to poor marker resolution. We have refined assessments of population structure and migratory connectivity in western Atlantic loggerhead and green turtles through application of mitogenomic markers. Physical tagging and satellite telemetry projects have made seminal contributions to our understanding of marine turtle reproductive ecology, but many aspects remain unresolved. I developed a clutch sampling approach to identify individuals females without the need to physically interact with them, which has permitted genetic tagging on a scale that would not be feasible using traditional tagging methods. We use these genetic tagging data in a capture-recapture framework to better understand the reproductive ecology of Northern Recovery Unit loggerhead turtles. This work includes characterizing site fidelity and nest site selection as well as refining estimates of adult female population size, survival, and reproductive parameters.