Lauren Smith
B.A. Biology, SUNY Geneseo, May 2004
I attended SUNY Geneseo in Geneseo, NY for my undergraduate career. After graduating in 2004 with a B.A. in Biology with secondary education certification, I became a "professional intern" for a few years to try my hand in different fields to discover and fine tune my research interests.
I first worked with sea turtles through an internship with the Bald Head Island Conservancy in North Carolina. I worked with sea turtles the following summer as a sea turtle technician on Jekyll Island, Georgia. I then took a hiatus from sea turtles to study Reproductive Biology as an Advanced Intern at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. From there I continued working for Disney as an Advanced Intern at Epcot’s Living Seas studying fish health, shark behavior, and dolphin cognitive development. After spending a summer with Disney’s Conservation Day Camp as an instructor, I moved to Seward, AK as an Americorps Volunteer with the mammal department at the Alaska SeaLife Center.
It appears I have come full circle and am now back working with sea turtles. All my experiences along the way have helped me better understand my role and goals as a researcher. My current project includes developing an ELISA to measure Vitellogenin in Loggerhead turtles. Blood samples were collected from nesting females on Hutchinson Island, FL in summer 2008.
Some good sea turtle resources you may want to check out are:
www.seaturtle.org
www.seaturtlehospital.org
www.bhic.org
I personally enjoy traveling, kayaking, dancing and apparently moving. I have lived in Kentucky (twice), North Carolina (twice), Georgia (twice), South Carolina, Virginia, New York, Alaska, and now Louisiana. My parents moved to Michigan after I started undergrad so I have visited there often. They are currently in the process of moving to Erie, PA so that will be a new place for me to explore. My motto is, "I don't visit places, I just move there!" Why stay for a week when you can move there and experience the culture and people for 6 months or a year? I often hear the phrase, "You're not from around here, are you?" I am learning to like Cajun and finding my way around in southeastern Louisiana. I think in the end I will fit in just fine.
A Loggerhead Hatchling
Me with "Bellisima" a satellite tracked Loggerhead from Jekyll Island, GA 2004
Preparing a turtle for her new accessory, a satellite tag! This turtle nested on Bald Head Island, NC in 2003.