OUR MISSION
The Jumby Bay Hawksbill Project seeks to better understand the life history and population dynamics of the hawksbill sea turtle in hopes that our findings will serve as a foundation for wise management and sound scientifically-grounded policymaking. We strive to promote the successful conservation of sea turtles in Antigua and across the region through increased public awareness of marine turtles. Only through long-term public support will hawksbills in Antigua and Barbuda - and the greater Caribbean - have a chance at survival and recovery.
WHAT WE DO
The Jumby Bay Hawksbill Project is a long-term research and conservation program, monitoring the hawksbill sea turtle nesting colony on Long Island, Antigua in the West Indies. The JBHP stands as the longest, continuous running hawksbill research program in the world. Since the project’s inception in 1987, close to 500 nesting hawksbills have been individually identified and tagged, and hundreds of thousands of hatchlings have scurried down the sand into Pasture Bay to begin their life journeys. Many of those turtles first tagged back in the late 1980s are still returning Jumby Bay’s beaches more than two decades later! And new, first-time nesters join the population as new recruits every year.
While the island and the project continue to evolve, the core of our research program – nightly, hourly beach patrols to tag nesting hawksbills – remains the same as it has for the past quarter-century. This research consistency is one factor that sets the JBHP apart and highlights the project’s value to the sea turtle conservation community.
WHO WE ARE
Seth Stapleton, Director and Principal Investigator
Seth has served as Director and PI since 2007 after first joining the JBHP as Field Director in 2004 and 2005 with his wife Carol. For his day job, he oversees the Minnesota Zoo's wildlife conservation projects, ranging from black rhino research in Namibia to wood turtle tracking in Minnesota. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota and at NC State. Seth completed his PhD at the University of Minnesota researching polar bears, and earned an MSc in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Georgia and BS degrees in Biology and Environmental Science from the College of William & Mary. He enjoys hanging out with Carol and their three young sons Jonah, Leo and Cole, walking his dog, traipsing through the woods, and traveling to far flung places.
Emma Kurus, 2023–2024 Field Director
Emma began working with the JBHP as a Field Director in 2023. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2023, where she majored in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology.
Bella Maiwurm, 2024 Field Director
Bella is a Field Director for the 2024 nesting season. She is a student at Iowa State University, where she is pursuing a degree in Animal Ecology and Wildlife Care.
Abby Baumgard, 2024 Field Director
Abby is monitoring Pasture Beach as a Field Director in 2024. She graduated from Eckerd College in 2024 after majoring in Marine Science with a minor in Biology. Abby calls Pennsylvania home, and has a research background spanning ecological systems from estuaries in Florida to salmon runs in Alaska.
Kate Levasseur, Research Associate
Kate served as a Field Director from 2008-2011 and later collaborated with the JBHP as a PhD student at the University of South Carolina. She developed a research program focused on population genetics, including the fine-scale genetic structure of hawksbills nesting at JB and surrounding beaches of Antigua and Barbuda. She is now a visiting assistant professor at Davidson College in North Carolina, where her research program continues to build in exciting directions related to hawksbill genetics.
Alexandra Fireman, Research Associate
Alex served as a Field Director for several seasons starting in 2016. She went on to complete a Masters thesis project at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Her research involved an assessment of the diet and foraging strategies of the nesting hawksbills on Jumby Bay using chemical tracers. She is currently a NOAA coral reef restoration management fellow in Saint Croix, but is still closely involved in Antigua.
Andrew Maurer, Research Associate
Andy served as Field Director in 2015 and 2016. He collaborated with the JBHP for his PhD research at North Carolina State University, spearheading projects ranging from satellite tracking, to estimating hatchling sex ratios, and documenting effects of problematic levels of shoreline Sargassum macroalgae. He is now a researcher with NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in San Diego, California, but still contributes to JBHP research initiatives.
Carol Guy-Stapleton, Communications Director
Carol served as a JBHP Field Director in 2004 and 2005 with her husband Seth Stapleton. She continues to serve the project by supporting communications initiatives. In her day job, Carol works to accelerate the shift to clean energy while protecting wildlife on the environmental team at Apex Clean Energy. Previously, she was an environmental consultant in Hitachi Consulting’s Sustainability Practice, having earned an MEM in Environmental Economics from Duke University and BSFR in Wildlife from the University of Georgia. She loves laughing with Seth and their three sons Jonah, Leo and Cole.