Past Award Recipients

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Samantha Kuschke, University of Tennessee, USA. Impacts of a warming world: How incubation temperatures relate to blood values and preliminary microbiota findings in leatherback sea turtle hatchlings and post hatchlings.

Runner up: Taylor Brunson, University of the Virgin Islands, USA. Identifying space use and foraging patterns of juvenile green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) in a Halophila stipulacea-dominated bay using a fine scale positioning acoustic array.

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Ademir da Silva Maruyama, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Brazil. At-sea mortality estimates of loggerhead turtle in Southern Brazil from standing data.

Runner up: Katie Ann Ayres, University of the Virgin Islands, USA. St. Thomas beaches may be critical male-producing habitat for hawksbills in the United States Virgin Islands.

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Katrina Phillips, University of Central Florida, USA. Lost years' sea turtle dispersal in the Gulf of Mexico.

First Prize: Makayla Kelso, University of Virgin Islands, USA. Hawksbill nesting trends increased significantly at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge, St Croix over 30 years.

BEST ORAL, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Kayla Marie Burgher, Arizona State University, USA. Global patterns of illegal marine turtle exploitation.

Runner up: Keilor Enrique Cordero Umaña, Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo, Spain. Fast growing urban areas as potential drivers of sea turtle nest predation.

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Alexandra G. Gulick, University of Florida, USA. A mechanism for compensatory growth in Caribbean seagrass meadows grazed by green turtles

Runner up: Emily Turla, Florida Atlantic University, USA. Investigating the relationship between cheloniid hatchling sex and growth rate in captive conditions

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Gisela Marín-Capuz, University of Barcelona, Spain. Analysis of the scientific production on sea turtles in Cabo Verde

Runner up: Mar Izquierdo, University of Valencia, Spain. Factors affecting marine debris ingestion by loggerhead turtles (Caretta Caretta) in the Western Mediterranean

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Samantha Elizabeth Trail, Florida Atlantic University, USA. Differences in visual perception are correlated with variation in seafinding behavior between hatchling leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and loggerhead (Caretta caretta) marine turtles

Runner Up: Renato Saragoça Bruno, University of Florida, USA. Reproductive dynamics of female green turtles (Chelonia Mydas) on the Miskito coast, Nicaragua, an important Atlantic foraging ground

ORAL, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Chia-Ling Fong, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan. Citizen scientists reveal the distribution, abundance, and main threats to the foraging sea turtles in Taiwan

Runner up: Larissa Rosalie Young, University of Queensland, Australia. Increasing male hatchling production using seawater irrigation

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Robert Johnson, University of Florida, USA. Green turtle grazing causes a consistent response in seagrass ecosystem metabolic carbon capture across Caribbean meadows

Runner up: MacKenzie Tackett, University of Central Florida, USA. Are diet samples consistent between the different sections of the green turtle digestive tract?

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Katie Mascovich, University of Georgia, USA. Talking turtles – Exploring the relative efficacy of different visitor education programs at Jekyll Island, Georgia

Runner up: Mia El-Khazen, University of Central Florida, USA. Evaluating harmful algal bloom effects on growth rates of juvenile green turtles

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Boris Tezak, Florida Atlantic University, USA. Using blood samples to identify the sex of hatchling loggerhead sea turtles

Runner Up: Kayla Goforth, University of North Carolina, USA. Formation of foraging site attachment in migratory sea turtles

BEST ORAL, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Alessandra Bielli, University of Exeter, UK. An illuminating idea to reduce bycatch in the Peruvian small-scale gillnet fishery

Runner up: Emily Duncan, University of Exeter, UK. Microplastic ingestion ubiquitous in marine turtles

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Kenta Fujita, Kyoto University Graduate School of Informatics, JAPAN. Dive behavior during post-nesting migration of loggerhead turtles nesting in Japan

Runner up: Sara Abalo Morla, Universitat Politècnica de València, SPAIN. Dispersal patterns of loggerhead sea turtle post-hatchlings in the Mediterranean basin

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Helen Pheasey, University of Kent, UK. First field trial of decoy turtle eggs embedded with GPS tracking devices

Runner up: MacKenzie Tackett, University of Central Florida, USA. Environmental correlates of arrested embryonic development in loggerhead and green sea turtles

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Shohei Kobayashi, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, JAPAN. Incubation temperatures influence the sex differences in the survival of loggerhead sea turtle during early life stages

Runner Up: J. Roger Brothers, University of North Carolina, USA. Geomagnetic imprinting and natal homing in sea turtles: insights from adults and embryos

BEST ORAL, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Ryan Pearson, Griffith University, AUSTRALIA. Shell walls: a new hope for sea turtle conservation

Runner up: Seh Ling Long, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, MALAYSIA. Lessons learned from a livelihood-based study on human-sea turtle interactions in marine park islands of Terengganu, Malaysia

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Miriam Mueller, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico. Effects of maternal origin, morphology and incubation temperature on the swimming performance of olive ridley turtle hatchlings

Runner up: Bethany Holtz, Gettysburg College, USA, The role of environmental acoustic cues in sea finding of hatchling loggerhead sea turtles

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Brianna Elliott, Duke University, USA. Trends in sea turtle bycatch following the implementation of an incidental take permit in North Carolina estuarine waters

Runner up: Emily Asp, Coastal Carolina University, USA, The effects of artificial light pollution upon Caretta caretta hatchling orientation in the Grand Strand and surrounding Central Long Bay Region, South Carolina.

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Robert Johnson, University of Florida, USA. Green turtles and blue carbon: Effects of grazing on seagrass meadow carbon dynamics

Runner Up: Matthew Ramirez, Oregon State University, USA. Kemp’s ridley sea turtle habitat use and diet variation revealed through combined trace element and stable isotope analysis

BEST ORAL, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Andy Agyekumhene, University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Sea turtle bycatch reduction in Ghana’s gillnet fishery

Runner up: Bianca Santos, College of William and Mary, USA. Consequences of drift and decay of sea turtle carcasses for the estimation of turtle mortality locations from stranding data in the Chesapeake Bay

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Boris Tezak, Florida Atlantic University. Can sex-specific proteins in blood be used as a reliable method to identify the sex of sea turtle hatchlings?

Runner up: Victoria Erb, Florida Atlantic University, The role of weather and sand moisture in shaping loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) hatchling growth and survival

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Callie Veelenturf, Indiana University-Purdue University. Human use and potential impacts to the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) in key in-water habitat of southeast Florida

Runner up: Philippine Chambault, University of Strassbourg, Developmental habitat and migratory pathways: Key areas for the conservation of future breeding green turtles across the Caribbean-Atlantic region

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Karen Pankaew, Florida Atlantic University. Physiological effects of disorientation loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green (Chelonia mydas) sea turtle hatchlings

Runner up: Brianna Myre, Texas A&M University, Ovarian dynamics in free-ranging loggerhead sea turtles.

BEST ORAL, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Kimberly Riskas, James Cook University. Illegal fishing and its impacts on sea turtles in Terengganu state, Malaysia

Runner up: Michelle Cazabon-Mannette, University of the West Indies. The economic value of sea turtles to scuba divers in Tobago

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Abilene Colin Aguilar, CICESE, Mexico. Food availability affects the reproductive success of the olive ridley

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Mireia Aguilera Rodà, Univ. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Assessing the effects of tire ruts on the beach dispersal of hatchling loggerhead sea turtles in Boa Vista Island, Cape Verde

Runner up: Aurora Oliver de la Esperanza, Univ. Zaragoza, Spain. Tourist impacts on the nesting habitat of the threatened loggerhead and turtle in Kanzul, Riviera Maya and Tulum, Mexico.

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Natalie Wildermann, James Cook University, Australia. Offshore dispersal of flatback hatchlings: Insights toward understanding the only non-oceanic turtles in the world

Runner up: Joseph Pfaller, University of Florida, USA. Global phylogenomics of planes crabs, a common symbiont of sea turtles

BEST ORAL, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Sarah Nelms, University of Exeter, England. Assessing the potential impacts if seismic surveys on marine turtles

Runner up: Aliki Panagopoulou, Drexel University, USA. Hook, line and thinkers: Understanding complex perceptions of fisher-turtle interactions in context (Crete, Greece)

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Eric Parks, Savannah State University USA. Analysis of trace element composition of loggerhead sea turtle bone via laser ablationa

Runner up: Celine Mollet Saint Benoit, University of Central Florida USA. No news is good news. Juvenile marine turtles unaffected by HABs in Indian River Lagoon, Florida.

Runner up: Cristian Ramirez-Gallego, University of Puerto Rico USA. Genetic diversity of leatherback turtles from Puerto Rico

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Meghan Gahm, University of Rhode Island USA. Reducing sea turtle mortality in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern New England summer flounder trawl fishery

Runner up: Kimberly Riskas, James Cook University, Australia. Patterns of marine turtle bycatch reported in commercial fisheries logbooks, Australia.

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Cali Turner Tomaszewicz, University of California, San Diego, USA. Habitat use of North Pacific loggerhead turtles and duration spent in a high-bycatch area near Baja California using skeletochronology and stable isotope analysis

Runner up: Melanie Lopez-Castro, University of Florida, USA. Evaluation of scute thickness to infer life history records in the carapace of green and loggerhead turtles

Runner up: Nathan J. Robinson, Indiana -Purdue University, USA. Revealing the migratory behavior of nesting leatherback and loggerhead turtles from South Africa using satellite telemetry and stable isotope analysis

BEST ORAL, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Jose Luis Crespo-Picazo, Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. Systemic gas embolism in dead and live loggerhead sea turtles due to bycatch

Runner up: Aliki Panagopoulou, Drexel University, USA. Untangling fishermen-turtle relationships: perceptions of sea turtle interactions with small-scale fisheries in Crete, Greece.

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Vanessa Bezy, College of Charleston, USA. Preliminary results: olive ridley sea turtle embryo mortality as a function of the nest microbial community at Ostional, Costa Rica

Runner up: Deasy Lontoh, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, USA. Variation in remigration interval is linked to the foraging destination of Western Pacific leatherback turtles.

Runner up: Tomoko Hamabata, Kyoto University, Japan. Genetic structure of green turtles nesting in Northwestern Pacific Ocean

Runner up: Jake Lasala, Georgia Southern University, USA. New microsatellite DNA analyses may confound current population models for loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta)

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Nicole Reintsma, Florida Atlantic University, USA. Assessing a potential lighting problem for loggerhead hatchlings near the brightest lighthouse in the world: Arena assays at Hillsboro Beach, Florida, USA

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY EXPERIMENTAL
First Prize: J. Roger Brothers, UNC-Chapel Hill, USA. A mathematical model consistent with geomagnetic imprinting hypothesis of natal homing

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY FIELD-BASED
First Prize: Nicole Mazouchova, Temple University, USA. Effects of granular incline angle on the locomotion of loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings in the field

Runner up: Justin Perrault, Florida Atlantic University, USA. Bioaccumulation and biomagnification of mercury and selenium in leatherback sea turtles: a cause for concern in this species

BEST ORAL, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Elizabeth Bevan, University of Alabama in Birmingham, USA. Implications of hatchling sex ratios and survival in the recovery program for the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle

Runner up, Conservation field-based: Fracesc Domenech, University of Valencia, Spain. Incidental catch of the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta) by bottom trawling in the Valencian community in Eastern Spain

Runner up, Conservation experimental: Monette Schwoerer, University of Central Florida, USA. Shading in situ marine turtle nests: a potential practice to mitigate nest temperatures in response to climate change.

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Martínez Arenas Anahí, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Molecular genetics of hawksbills from Mexican habitats in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico

Runner up: Ana Rita Patricio, University of Puerto Rico, USA. Spatial and temporal variability on abundance and somatic growth dynamics of immature turtles at Culebra, Puerto Rico

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY EXPERIMENTAL
First Prize: Daphne Goldberg, Universidade Estado do Rio de Janeiro Brazil. Ghrelin, leptin and the nesting activity of the hawksbill sea turtle

Runner up: Anthony Rafferty, Monach University, Australia. Oviducal hypoxia arrests embryonic development and constrains the evolution of viviparity in chelonians

BEST ORAL, BIOLOGY FIELD-BASED
First Prize: Deasy Lontoh, Moss Landing Marine Lab, USA. Variation in reproductive output of leatherback turtles nesting in the northwest coast of Papua, Indonesia

Runner up: Karl Phillips, University of East Anglia, UK. Patterns of paternity and what they can tell us: Molecular insights from the hawksbill turtle

BEST ORAL, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Monette Auman, University of Central Florida, USA. Relating sea surface temperature to the nesting phenology of hawksbill sea turtles at Buck Island Reef National Monument, USVI

Runner up: LoriKim Alexander, Florida Gulf Coast University, USA. An assessment of local knowledge and attitudes toward sea turtle conservation n Ghana

Runner up: Nick Ehlers, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada. Thinking outside of the beach – an interdisciplinary study of tourism-related motorboat use in Tortuguero, Costa Rica

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION THROUGH SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL & LEGAL PATHWAYS
First Prize: Joana Hancock, University of Exeter, UK. Drivers of the consumption and trade of sea turtle products in Cape Verde, West Africa – are we taking the right approach?

BEST POSTER, FORAGING, PHYSIOLOGY & MOVEMENTS
First Prize: Morgan Young, Florida Atlantic University. Visual wavelength discrimination by the loggerhead turtle

BEST POSTER, THREATS
First Prize: Leigh Ann Harden, UNC-Wilmington. Using a spatially explicit predator-prey model to investigate bycatch risk of terrapins in crab pots

BEST POSTER, POPULATION ASSESSMENT
First Prize: Vanessa Bezy, UNC-Wilmington. Comparisons of methodologies for estimating the nest density of olive ridley arribadas at Ostional, Costa Rica

BEST POSTER, HEALTH & REHABILITATION
First Prize: Virginie Plot, Université Strasbourg. Physiological state and condition of nesting leatherback turtles in French Guiana

BEST POSTER, BREEDING BIOLOGY
First Prize: Hannah Vander Zanden, University of Florida. Nutrient transport by green turtles

BEST ORAL, FORAGING, PHYSIOLOGY & MOVEMENTS + HEALTH & REHABILITATION
First Prize: Simona Ceriani , University of Central Florida. Satellite tracking confirms the use of stable isotopes to infer foraging grounds of loggerhead turtles nesting on Florida’s east coast
Runner up: Alexander Gaos, San Diego State UniversitySatellite telemetry reveals novel insights into the biology and conservation of hawksbill turtles in the eastern Pacific Ocean

BEST ORAL, THREATS
First Prize: Qamar Schuyler, University of Queensland. To eat or not to eat? The roles of choice and vision in ingestion of marine debris by sea turtles

BEST ORAL, POPULATION ASSESSMENT
First Prize: Brian Shamblin, University of Georgia. Genetic mark-recapture of the female loggerhead population nesting in Georgia, 2008-09: abundance, nest site fidelity and relatedness

BEST ORAL, BREEDING BIOLOGY
First Prize: Anthony Rafferty, Monash University. Embryonic death is linked to maternal identity in the leatherback turtle
Runner up: Jeanne Garner, Texas A&M UniversityEvaluating steroid hormone data in association with reproductive parameters in a population of leatherback turtles and the application to conservation and management

BEST ORAL, CONSERVATION THROUGH SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL & LEGAL PATHWAYS
First Prize: Courtney Shephard, Duke University. Optimizing U.S. Endangered Species Act protection by integrating recovery planning, Section 7 consultations, and incidental take authorizations: a sea turtle case study

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Itzel Sifuentes-Romero, UNAM, Mexico. Expression of SOX9 and HOX genes in the embryonic reproductive tract of Lepidochelys olivacea during sex determination
Runner up: Rubén E. Venegas-Li, Fundacion Keto and University of Costa Rica, Costa RicaCorrelation of loggerhead turtle nesting numbers in Zakynthos with the sea surface temperature at this population’s feeding grounds

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Satya R. Behara, Wildlife Institute of India, India. Impact of erosion on hatching success in mass nesting sites of olive ridley along the Orissa coast, India coast, India
Runner up: Ohiana Revuelta, University of Valencia, SpainEvaluation of conservation measures for hawksbills (Eretmochelys imbricata) nesting in the Dominican Republic

BEST ORAL PRESENTATION, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Guilherme O. Longo, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil. Reproductive periodicity and abundance estimates of green turtle adult males at Atol das Rocas Marine Biological Reserve, NE Brazil
Runner up: Catherine McClellan, Duke University, USAStaple isotopes and telemetry reveal life history dichotomy in juvenile loggerhead sea turtles

BEST ORAL PRESENTATION, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Joanna Alfaro Shigueto, University of Exeter, UK. Use of innovative tools for at-sea outreach: radio conservation for at-sea decision makers
Runner up: Katy Garland, University of Florida, USAChanging taste preferences, market demands and traditions in Pearl Lagoon, Nicaragua: a community reliant on Chelonia mydas for income and nutrition

BEST PAPER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Wendy Dow, Duke University, USA. In-water and in-air hearing sensitivity of the juvenile green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas).
Runner up: Hoyt Peckham, UC Santa CruzDemographic and conservation implications of alternative foraging strategies in juvenile loggerhead turtles.

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Suzanne E Roden, NOAA Fisheries – Southwest Fisheries Science Center / University of San Diego. Detecting green turtle population structure in the pacific using single nucleotide polymorphisms (snps).
Runner up: Kimberly Reich, University of FloridaEffects of repeated tissue sampling on the growth of immature loggerhead turtles; a controlled study.

BEST PAPER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: David Pike, University of Sydney. Climatic change and changes in sea turtle nesting distributions
Runner up: Mariana MPB Fuentes, James Cook UniversityAssessing the vulnerability of key sea turtle rookeries to predicted geographic shifts in cyclone activity

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Juan Patiño-Martínez, Estación Biológica de Doñana. The accumulation of driftwood on the beach disturb leatherback nesting and newborn behaviour affecting reproductive success.
Runner up: Antonio Nogueira, WCS. The use of geographic information system (GIS) for the support of the marine turtle research and conservation in Soyo, northern Angola.

BEST PAPER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Kelly Stewart, Duke University, USA. Colonization of Florida nesting beaches by leatherback turtles: microsatellites and MTdna reveal the demographic history of this population
Runner up: Brian Bostrom, University of British Columbia, CanadaAspects of thermal regulation in captive juvenile leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea)

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Erin E. Seney, Texas A&M University at Galveston, USA. Interactions between platform terminal transmitters and turtle excluder devices
Runner up: Kimberly Reich, University of Florida.Oceanic and neritic foraging strategies of adult loggerhead turtles: a sexually dimorphic feeding strategy?

BEST PAPER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Jillian Grayson, James Cook University, Australia. Options for the sustainable use of green turtles by Hammond islanders
Runner up: Asuka Ishizaki, Colorado State University, USAToward reducing human-caused impacts on green turtle nesting activity in Ogasawara Islands: results and implications from a resident survey

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Mandi L. McElroy, University of Georgia, USA. Loggerhead sea turtle nest management in Georgia: strategies that maximize hatching success
Runner up: Paul A. Whittock, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, ScotlandThe impact of sea level rise on a major Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtle nesting site: Zakynthos Island, Greece

BEST PAPER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Shaya Honarvar, Drexel University, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. Density-dependent effects on hatching success in olive ridley turtles
Runner up: T. Todd Jones, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC CanadaRearing leatherbacks in captivity: protocols, health and research
Runner up: Sabrina Fossette, Université Louis Pasteur, FranceDispersal and dive patterns in gravid leatherback turtles during the nesting season in French Guiana

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
Caren Barceló,,University of California at Santa Cruz, USAWhat do hitchhikers eat? The diet of planes cyaneus and their association with loggerhead and olive ridley turtles off the pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico.
Runner up: Paula Sanz, Estación Biológica de Doñana, C.S.I.C, Sevilla, SpainFine-scale paternity study of a loggerhead from Cape Verde: within and between seasons
Runner up: Tomoko Narazaki, Ocean Research Institute, U of Tokyo, JapanStudies on diving behaviour of sea turtles caught by set net at sanriku coastal water.

BEST PAPER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Joseph B. Pfaller, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA. Doomed egg relocation: a beneficial conservation strategy?
Runner up: Hector Barrios-Garrido, Grupo de Trabajo en Tortugas Marinas del Golfo de Venezuela (GTTM-GV). La Universidad del Zulia. Venezuela.Impacts in the conservation of the marine turtles on the part of the fishing communities Wayúu in the Gulf of Venezuela

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Marlem Zenteno, Facultad de Ciencias ,Departamento de Biología , UNAM, México. Impact of different kinds and times of retention in olive ridley´s (Lepidochelys olivacea) hatchlings in blood glucose levels.
Runner up: Anne M. Leblanc, University of Alabama, Birmingham, USABack to the natural nesting beach: a transition from egg corrals to in situ in the kemp’s ridley sea turtle

BEST PAPER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Siobhan Hermanussen, University of Queensland, Australia. The exposure of sea turtles to organic pollutants within Morton Bay, Queensland.
Runner up: Vincent S. Saba, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, USAENSO governed productivity transitions at potential leatherback forging areas in the equatorial and southeastern pacific regions.

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
Winner: Carlos Carreras, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Sevilla, SpainDegree of isolation of the Mediterranean nesting populations of the loggerhead sea turtle using nuclear markers
Runner up: Karen Arthur, University of Queensland, AustraliaEcotoxicology of the cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula and the potential exposure of green turtles, Chelonia mydas to tumor compounds.
Runner up: Jennifer Estes, University of Alabama, Birmingham, USATemperature Comparisons of loggerhead sea turtle nesting beaches throughout Florida.

BEST PAPER, CONSERVATION
First prize: Sue Ranger, Marine Conservation Society, UK. Just say no! An assessment of the establishment, implementation and utility of the 25 year moratorium on turtle fishing exploitation on the Island of Anguilla, BWI
Runner up: Jillian E. Grayson, James Cook University, AustraliaCommunity-based catch-monitoring of a traditional fishery for marine turtles in the Kaiwalagal traditional sea country of the Torres Straight
Runner up: Jason Scott, University of Georgia, USALoggerheads and shrimp trawlers: new management ideas for an old problem

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Kristen T. Mazzarella, College of Charleston, USA. Analysis of stranded loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta Caretta) in the North and South Carolinia using mitochondrial NA and Stranding Records
Runner up: Bojan Lazar, Croatian Natural History Museum, CroatiaInteractions of gillnet fishery with loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta in the Northern Adriatic Sea

BEST PAPER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Louise B. Brooks, Moss Landing Marine Laboratory, CA, USA. From turtles to the moon: The importance of tides for movements, home range and marine protected areas.
Runner up: Lucy A. Hawkes, University of Exteter, UKUnderstanding the spatial ecology of one of the most important loggerhead nesting populations in the Atlantic Ocean..

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
Winner: Kimberly J. Reich, University of Florida, Gainesville, USADiet-tissue discrimination and isotopic turnover of stable carbon and nitrogen in loggerheads.
Runner up: Michael P. Jensen, University of Aarhus, DenmarkMicrosatelilites provide insight into contrasting mating patterns in arribada versus non-arribada rookeries.

BEST PAPER, CONSERVATION
First prize: Catherine McClellan, Duke University Marine Lab, USA. Sea Turtle Interactions with an inshore gill net fishery: a novel approach

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Kristine Halager, Florida Atlantic University, USA. Assessment of turtle friendly lights: a method and underlying principles.
Runner up: Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, USASea turtle surfacing behavior and aerial census: how seasonal turtle sightability effects juvenile density estimates in Virginia.
Runner up: Rodrigo C. Almeida Santos, Universidade Federal de Sanat Catarina, BrazilInvolvement of artisanal fishermen in green turtle management for research and conservation in southern Brazil.

BEST PAPER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Manjula Tiwari, University of Florida, USA. Stimulating hatchling production in the green turtle nesting population at Tortuguero, Costa Rica
Runner up: Bill Irwin, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USAInnate and environmentally calibrated compass orientation in loggerhead sea turtles
Runner up: Toshinori Okuyama, University of Florida, USAUsing ecological co-variates to strengthen sea turtle mixed stock analysis.

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
Winner: Judy Gocke, Florida Atlantic University, USASpectral Sensitivity of Loggerhead (Caretta caretta L) and Leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea L) Hatchlings to Light: A Comparative Study
Runner up: Cameron Ralph, Monash University, AustraliaThe effect of egg location on developmental success of leatherback turtles
Runner up: Lesley Stokes, Florida Atlantic University,Seasonal latitudinal assessment of early growth rates in northern and southeastern loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from US beaches

BEST PAPER, CONSERVATION
First prize: Kiki Jenkins, Duke University, USA. Key factors in the invention and diffusion of marine conservation technology: a case study of TEDs
First prize: Zoë Meletis, Duke University, USA. Talking about Tortuguero: Tourist perspectives on turtle based ecotourism

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: John Wang, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA. Responses of juvenile loggerheads to light sticks used in long line fisheries
Runner up: Hoyt Peckham, University of California, Santa Cruz, USAReducing bycatch of loggerhead turtles in coastal fisheries of the Baja California Peninsula, Mexico

BEST PAPER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Rusty Day, College of Charleston, USA. Mercury in loggerhead sea turtles in the Southeast US: assessing health impacts and developing monitoring strategies
Runner up: Fulvio Muffucci, Zoological Station of Naples, ItalyTrace elements accumulation and tissue distribution in loggerhead turtles from the Western Mediterranean Sea

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First prize: Eduardo Amir Cuevas Flores, CINVESTAV, Mexico. Mapping and characterizing foraging habitat of immature hawksbill turtles in front of the biosphere reserve Ria Lagartos, Yucatan, Mexico

BEST PAPER, CONSERVATION
First prize: Yianna Samuel, Cornell University, USA. Underwater noise and anthropogenic disturbance in critical sea turtle habitat

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: Cathi Campbell, University of Florida, USA. Assessment of Tortuguero, Costa Rica, green turtle population

BEST PAPER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Jennifer M. Keller, Duke University Marine Laboratory, USA.. Are contaminants affecting loggerhead health?
Runner up: Larisa Avens, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.Orientation cues used by juvenile loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, from Core Sound, North Carolina, USA.

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First prize: T. Todd Jones, Florida Atlantic University, USA.. A comparison of the ontogeny of oxygen consumption in leatherback, Dermochelys coriacea and olive ridley, Lepidochelys olivacea sea turtle hatchlings – different strokes for different life styles.
Runner up: Milagros Lopez Mendilaharsu, Centro de Investigaciones Biologicas del Noroeste, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.Feeding ecology of the East Pacific green turtle (Chelonia mydas agassizii), in Bahía Magdalena, B.C.S, Mexico.

BEST PAPER, CONSERVATION
First prize: Kiki Dethmers, Nijmegen University, Netherlands.. Commercial turtle harvests in Australasia; assessing the extent of their impact using mtDNA markers

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION (FIELD-BASED)
First Prize: Ryan Slattery, Florida Atlantic University, USA.. “Shark fishing”: a technique for estimating the distribution of juvenile green turtles (Chelonia mydas) in shallow water developmental habitats, Palm Beach County, Florida, U.S.A
Runner up: Lesley Hughes, Florida Atlantic University, USA.The influence of embedded roadway lighting on the orientation of hatchling sea turtles (Caretta caretta).

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION (SOCIO-ECONOMIC)
First prize; Antonia C. Marte, Recursos Costeros y Marinos, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Preliminary study of the trade of hawksbill turtle shell in the Dominican Republic.

BEST PAPER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Philippe Rivalan, Université de Paris, France.. Estimation of tag loss and annual survival rates of leatherback turtle, Dermochelys coriacea, in French Guiana
Runner up: Susanna Clusella Trullas, Indiana Purdue University, USA.Energetics during the dispersal of olive ridley sea turtle hatchlings (Lepidochelys olivacea) using the doubly labeled water method.

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First prize: Maricela A. Constantino, Florida Atlantic University, USA.. Prey detection by leatherback hatchlings
Runner up: Dale Youngkin, Florida Atlantic University, USA.A long-term dietary analysis of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) from Cumberland Island, Georgia
Runner up: Sadie S. Coberley, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA California Sur, Mexico.Derological detection of herpes virus infections in marine turtles.

BEST PAPER, CONSERVATION
First prize: Sonja Macys, Colorado State University, USA.. Conservation policy and stakeholder involvement: tilting the balance for marine turtles in Yucatan.

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION (FIELD-BASED)
First Prize: Brian Riewald, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA… Effects of longline hooking on dive behavior and mortality of oceanic stage juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta).

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION (SOCIO-ECONOMIC)
First prize; Florence C. Evacitas, University of the Philippines, Philippines.. Understanding behaviors toward sea turtle conservation of local communities in Hilabaan and Tikling, eastern Samar, Philippines.

BEST PAPER, BIOLOGY
First Prize: Jeffrey A. Seminoff, University of Arizona, USA.. Movement and home range of the East Pacific green turtle at a Gulf of California (México) feeding area.
Runner up: Melissa L. Snover, Duke University Marine Lab, USA.Skeletochronology in Kemp’s ridleys: calibration, settlement and growth.
Runner up: Barbara A. Bell, Drexel University, USA.The fertility of leatherbacks nesting at Playa Grande, Costa Rica, during the 1998-1999 nesting season.

BEST POSTER, BIOLOGY
First prize: Patricia Sposato, Florida Atlantic University, USA… Environmental stress and the immune response of Chelonia mydas
Runner up: Dana L. Drake, Drexel University, USA.Thermal tolerances and timing of sea turtle hatchling emergence

BEST PAPER, CONSERVATION
First prize: Lori L. Lucas, Florida Institute of Technology, USA.. Rationale for evaluating the design and function of monitoring programs undertaken in association with the nourishment of Florida’s marine turtle nesting beaches.

BEST POSTER, CONSERVATION
First Prize: William P. Irwin, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.. Magnetic field distortions produced by wire nest cages II: an update with new data.
Runner up: John H. Wang, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.

Response of pelagic stage loggerhead sea turtles to lightsticks used in longline fisheries.

BEST PAPER
First prize: Michael C. James, Acadia University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.. Distribution and conservation of the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) in Atlantic Canada: research partnerships with the fishing community
Runner up: Wallace J. Nichols, University of Arizona, USA.Poi or papas? Do Hawaiian and Mexican green turtles feed together in Baja California water.
Runner up: Sandra Storch, Institut für Meereskunde, Kiel, Germany.Turtles in the reef: a closer look at the activities of hawksbill turtles in a Caribbean internesting habitat

BEST POSTER
First Prize: Sadie S. Curry, College of Medicine, University of Florida, USA.. Persistent infectivity of chelonian herpes viruses after exposure to artificial seawater
Runner up: Melissa L. Snover, Duke University Marine Laboratory, USA.Detecting the precise time at settlement from pelagic to benthic habitats in the loggerhead sea turtle, Caretta caretta
Runner up: Jeffrey R. Schmid. University of Florida, Gainesville, USA.Characterizing developmental habitats and habitat utilization of Kemp’s ridley turtles using GIS.
Runner up: Larisa Avens, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.Possible homing behavior in juvenile loggerheads (Caretta caretta) from Core Sound, North Carolina.

BEST PAPER
First prize: Sarah S. Bouchard, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA. Nutrient transfer and energy flow from marine to terrestrial ecosystems by loggerhead sea turtles at Melbourne Beach, Florida, USA
Runner up: Yoshimasa Matsuzawa, Laboratory of Fisheries Environmental Oceanography, Kyoto University, Japan.Sand color, temperature, and sex ratio of emerging hatchlings on loggerhead nesting beaches in Japan.
Runner up: Lisa DeCarlo, Florida Atlantic University, USA.Comparative studies of retinal design among sea turtles: histological and behavioral correlates of the visual streak.

BEST POSTER
First Prize: Ana R. Barragán, Universidad Nacional Autonoma Mexico, Mexico.. Genetic population structure of the leatherback turtle in the eastern Pacific: conservation implications
Runner up: Caitlin Curtis, Drexel University, USA.Mating system of Caribbean leatherback turtles as indicated by analysis of microsatellite DNA from hatchlings and adult females.
Runner up: Leticia Gámez, Universidad Nacional Autonoma Mexico, Mexico.Comparison of techniques used to sex leatherback hatchlings.

BEST PAPER
First prize: Amanda L. Southwood University of British Columbia, Canada.. Heart rates and dive behaviour of the leatherback sea turtle during the internesting interval.
Runner up: Richard D. Reina, Australian National University, AustraliaRegulation of salt gland activity in Chelonia mydas
Runner up: Shingo Minamikawa, Kyoto University, Japan.The influence that artificial specific gravity change gives to diving behavior of loggerhead turtles.

BEST POSTER
First Prize: Mark A. Roberts and University of South Florida, USA.. Global population structure of green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) using microsatellite analysis of male mediated gene flow.
Runner up: Larisa Avens, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, USA.Equilibrium responses to rotational displacements by hatchling sea turtles: maintaining a migratory heading in a turbulent ocean.
Runner up: Annette C. Broderick, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom..Female size, not length, is a correlate of reproductive output.

BEST PAPER

First prize: Nancy FitzSimmons, University of Queensland, Australia.. Multiple paternity in green turtles?
Runner up: John Wang

BEST POSTER

First prize: Julie Rieder, Ohio State University, USA. The mating system of the leatherback turtle: a molecular approach
Runner up: Ray Carthy, University of Florida.

BEST PAPER
First prize: Matthew Goff, Forida Atlantic University, USA. The magnetic compass of loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings: calibration by surface waves

BEST POSTER
First prize: David Penick, Drexel University. Temperature independent tissue metabolic rate of leatherback turtles, Dermochelys coriacea, muscle: a novel vertebrate approach

BEST PAPER
First prize: Larry Herbst, University of Florida, USA. Green turtle fibropapillomatosis: transmission study update

BEST POSTER
First prize: Carlos Diaz, University of Central Florida, USA; Robert Van Dam, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, USA. Growth, foraging and sex ratio of immature hawksbills at Mona Island, Puerto Rico

BEST PAPER
First prize: Mary Rybitski, VIMS, College of William and Mary, USA. Comparison of organochlorine contents in Atlantic loggerheads (Caretta caretta) and Hawaiian green turtles (Chelonia mydas)
Runner up: Selina Heppel, North Carolina State University, USAIs headstarting headed in the right direction?

BEST POSTER
First prize: Sarah Fangman, NC Maritime Museum, USA. Effects of human beach usage on the temporal distribution of loggerhead nesting activities

BEST PAPER
First prize: Charles Tambiah, Duke University, USA. Integrated management of sea turtles among the indigenous people of Guyana: planning beyond recovery and towards sustainability

BEST PAPER
First prize: Brian Bowen, University of Georgia, USA. Evolutionary distinctiveness of the Kemp’s ridley

BEST PAPER
First prize: Anton D. Tucker, Savannah River Ecology Lab, USA . A test of the scatter-nesting hypothesis at a seasonally stable leatherback rookery