How do you go from studying at a land-locked college in south central Pennsylvania to the azure waters of the Caribbean Sea as a sea turtle researcher? You just keep swimming!
Inspiration can spring from unexpected places. On a balmy evening many summers ago, as I looked up at a drive-in movie screen framed by the night sky, an animated blue fish named Dory spoke three words that sum up my personal journey: “Just keep swimming.” Through a sea of personal discovery, my career as a published sea turtle researcher and outreach and social media manager for SEE Turtles, Inc., an international sea turtle conservancy organization, was spawned.
I dove into dual majors at Gettysburg College with a marine ecology concentration in environmental science and a photography lens in art studio. My internships featured stints at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey, and the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland. I hand-fed watermelons to hungry hippos, administered antibiotics to sharks (without getting bit!), and even watched a baby penguin greet the world for the very first time at the Adventure Aquarium. In Baltimore, I befriended a pod of dolphins and learned the behind-the-scenes work involved in training and enrichment.
My career fate was sealed while working with a particularly ornery sea turtle named Tortuga, a loggerhead sea turtle destined to be released back to the ocean after rehabilitation. One morning, I found myself wrestling with Tortuga for the hose I was using to siphon sand. Because rehabilitation protocols require limited caretaker contact, I played a careful game of tug-of-war. After winning the match, I hopped off the ladder into a pool of water from the hose that broke free during the tussle. As I sloshed around in soggy sneakers the rest of the day, I was energized!
Continuing my studies under the tutelage of former Gettysburg College sea turtle biologist Dr. Wendy Dow Piniak ’03 opened my eyes to the world of animal behavior. My capstone thesis centered on the significance of environmental acoustic cues of sea turtle hatchlings as they orient from nests to the ocean. Presenting my research at the International Sea Turtle Symposium in Lima, Peru, in 2016, I came to appreciate how every experiment contributes to a larger body of knowledge that can be used to develop management and conservation plans.
Dr. Piniak also sponsored my initial field excursion, where I met my first “bucket of best friends,” loggerhead hatchlings. There’s nothing more magical than watching hatchlings boil over from sand-buried nests to scurry on tiny flippers toward the horizon. Leatherback, green, loggerhead, and hawksbill hatchlings have all crawled through my self-built mobile research lab spanning beaches from North Carolina to the Virgin Islands. I’ve spent many sleepless nights keeping vigil alongside remote sea turtle nests. The rewards include publications in scientific journals and presentations at international conferences.
I discovered my swim lane: sea turtle conservation and habitat protection.
My love for learning instilled at Gettysburg College led to a Master of Science in biology, my pursuit of a Ph.D., and my current passion for communicating science.
At SEE Turtles, my outreach and inclusion efforts help bring sea turtle science and conservation to the global community. My signature project is the organization’s annual Sea Turtle Week programming. These collaborations included 50-plus beach cleanup projects in 19 countries, with 3,100 volunteers collecting 44 tons of trash. We recognized a Ghana scientist whose research measurably expanded sea turtle conservation, and posted sea turtle photos from 249 worldwide photographers. We inspired young artists through a children’s art contest that attracted entries from 22 countries. I directed and produced Sea Turtle Week: The Mini Series.
I am just getting started, and Gettysburg College helped me make a splash in a big pond!
by Bethany Holtz ’16
Posted: 07/17/24