Congratulations to Whitney Laboratory Associate Professor of Wildlife Disease Genomics Dr. David Duffy for being awarded National Park Service funding for work related to Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles.
Genomic Pathogen Surveillance and Genetic Diversity Assessment of Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles
Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) is the most critically endangered sea turtle species in the world. Their most important nesting beach in the U.S. is the National Park Service’s Padre Island National Seashore (PAIS) in Texas, with over half of all U.S. nests. Kemp’s ridley recovery has slowed since 2009, an alarming trend after the success of the previous 10 years. Kemp’s ridley turtles are susceptible to emerging diseases, and the genetic resiliency of the population is not well understood. The emergence of disease, including pathogen-induced fibropapillomatosis tumors in nesting mothers, and limited genetic diversity information at PAIS, are particularly concerning for Kemp’s recovery.
The Duffy Lab has been working with the National Park Service Wildlife Biologists (led by Dr. Donna Shaver) spearheading Kemp’s ridley recovery efforts in Texas since 2017. This three-year federally funded project continues that effort to apply genomic analysis of nesting Kemp’s ridley turtles from conventional blood and tissue sampling and innovative nesting crawl sand environmental (e)DNA sampling. This project will determine the proportion of PAIS nesting Kemp’s ridley turtles infected with specific pathogens, the level of pathogen shedding as mothers and hatchlings crawl over the beach, and the genetic resiliency of the current population.
Image (above): A critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle undergoing rehabilitative care at the UF Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience’s Sea Turtle Hospital, in March 2026. Image credit: David Duffy.
Image: A successfully rehabilitated critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle being released by the UF Whitney Lab for Marine Bioscience’s Sea Turtle Hospital team on Marineland Beach in 2022. Image credit: David Duffy.