The EcoMorphLab and Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research are not currently accepting additional graduate students for the 2025 cycle.

Principal Investigator      

Photo of Christopher Marshall, Ph.D.

Christopher Marshall, Ph.D.
Professor



Dr. Christopher Marshall is the PI of the lab. His work focuses on integrating morphology, physiology, and behavioral performance of feeding in marine vertebrates to provide information regarding an organism's foraging ecology, and their conservation. This work includes investigations of natural history and comparative neurobiology of sensory systems of marine vertebrates.





Back to topBack to top

Current Lab Members      

Photo of Dr. Khanh To

Dr. Khanh To
Postdoctoral Scientist



Dr. Khanh’s research focuses on the form, function, and evolutionary history of beaks. Her dissertation focused the keratinous beaks of birds. Now she and Dr. Marshall are working on the functional morphology of beaks in sea turtles. Specifically, she is investigating the morphological (attachment styles, crushing surface morphology, foramina patterns) and material property (keratin hardness, thickness, and composition) differences in the rhamphothecae (beaks) between durophagous (crushing) and non-durophagous turtles.





Photo of Madelyn Rupp

Madelyn Rupp
Ph.D. student



Madelyn is leading our in-water sea turtle field team and is interested the movement ecology of Galveston Bay Estuary System sea turtles using satellite and acoustic instrumentation. Her work uses Bayesian State Space Models and GAMMS to understand the drivers of sea turtle movement.





Photo of Bryan Gahn

Bryan Gahn
Ph.D. student



Bryan Gahn is a master’s student in the Marine Biology Graduate Interdisciplinary Program. He is interested in marine pollution and understanding the effects of microplastic pollution on the respiration of fishes, especially bait-fish (clupeids) such as anchovies, shad and mackerel.





Photo of Theresa Morris

Theresa Morris
Ph.D. student



In addition to serving as the Program Coordinator Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital Manager for the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research. Theresa is also pursuing a Ph.D. in Marine Biology that will focus on sea turtle eDNA and distribution of sea turtles in the Galveston Bay Estuary System.





Photo of Paige Breon

Paige Breon
M.S. student



In addition to overseeing our nesting program, Paige is pursuing a M.S. thesis in Marine Biology. Her research focuses on understanding the distribution of ages of green and Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in the Galveston Bay Estuary System. She is using skeletochronology to age our turtles. This involves the collection of humerus (upper arm bones) from sea turtle necropsies, cross-sectioning the bones and staining them to observe the many rings of growth that can be used to age sea turtles.





Back to topBack to top

Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research Staff      

Photo of Theresa Morris

Theresa Morris
Program Coordinator
Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital Manager



Theresa Morris is a Program Coordinator with the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research. Her primary duties are sea turtle rehabilitation and water quality control with our new sea turtle hospital. Theresa is also involved in the sea turtle stranding network and educational outreach.





Photo of Paige Breon

Paige Breon
Program Assistant
Nesting Program Manager



Paige oversees our long-term nesting program, the Sea Aggie Sea Turtle Patrol. We patrol 87 miles of beach from the Texas-Louisiana border to Surfside Texas. The mission is to relocate Kemp’s ridley sea turtle eggs, and any sea turtle eggs, to Padre Island National Seashore’s incubation facility where they can be better protected. This program involved 300+ volunteers from the Galveston Bay Area Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists, Galveston community member, and students from Texas A&M University at Galveston.





Photo of John Arnett

John Arnett
Sea Turtle Technician



John oversees our UTV maintenance, deployment, and fuel supply for the Sea Aggie Sea Turtle Patrol. He is also involved in nesting program training, is a member of nest response team, and participated in all of the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research’s Conservation Programs.





Back to topBack to top

Former Lab Members      

Photo of Eliza Perez

Eliza Perez
LSAMP Undergraduate Scholar






Photo of Carolyn Pope

Carolyn Pope
ACES Undergraduate Scholar






Photo of Justin Wilson

Justin Wilson
M.S. student






Photo of Dr. Danielle Ingle

Dr. Danielle Ingle
Postdoctoral Scientist






Photo of Dr. Carlos Peredo

Dr. Carlos Peredo
Postdoctoral Scientist






Photo of Lauren Simonitis

Lauren Simonitis
Ph.D. Student






Photo of Claire Iseton

Claire Iseton
M.S. Student






Photo of Josh Cullen

Josh Cullen
Ph.D. Student






Photo of Caitlin Sprowls

Caitlin Sprowls
M.S. Student






Photo of Aubree Jones

Aubree Jones
TIO Undergraduate Fellow






Photo of Mackenzie Merrill

Mackenzie Merrill






Photo of Erin Mattson

Erin Mattson
M.S. Student






Photo of Brian Kot, Ph.D.

Brian Kot, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral scientist






Photo of Traver Wright, Ph.D.

Traver Wright, Ph.D.
Post-doctoral Scientist






Photo of Lori Timm

Lori Timm
Ph.D. student






Photo of Fabiola Rivera

Fabiola Rivera
National Science Foundation REU Intern






Photo of Alyssa Marsh

Alyssa Marsh
M.S. Student






Photo of Carly Ginter

Carly Ginter
M.S. Student






Photo of Emily Kane

Emily Kane
M.S. Student






Photo of Rachel Neuenhoff

Rachel Neuenhoff
M.S. Student






Photo of Mandi Moss

Mandi Moss
B.S. Student






Photo of Zach Leman

Zach Leman






Photo of Alejandra Salazar

Alejandra Salazar
M.S. Student






Photo of Heidi Amin

Heidi Amin
TIO Undergraduate Fellow






Photo of Brian Bloodworth

Brian Bloodworth
M.S. Student






Photo of Janelle Case

Janelle Case
M.S. Student






Photo of Jennifer Hill

Jennifer Hill
Undergraduate Intern






Back to topBack to top