Research Notes

From Research to Reel: EIH Teams Up for Turtle Conservation and Wildlife Documentary

By Gabbi Hammerbach, Graduate Research Assistant

Since 2021, the Environmental Institute of Houston (EIH) has been collaborating on a population assessment for alligator snapping turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) with project partners from Texas Turtles, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization focused on “filling a Texas-sized hole in our knowledge of turtles from the lone star state.” Since the long-term monitoring study’s inception, representatives from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and research universities across the country have joined the team, including technicians from the Sea Life Aquarium Grapevine, keepers from the Gladys Porter Zoo, and a specialist from the Cornell Wildlife Health Lab, just to name a few!

In September 2024, UHCL graduate student Gabbi Hammerbach and Mandi Gordon, Interim Associate Director of Research Programs at EIH, joined the Texas Turtles crew to continue their long-term mark-recapture study on the population. Gabbi gained hands-on experience setting and retrieving hoop traps, collecting morphological data, and handling alligator snapping turtles of all size classes. She also had the opportunity to learn from turtle experts Carl Franklin, Viviana Ricardez, Sal Scibetta, and Tara Klimek about the species' natural history and the importance of their conservation. The alligator snapping turtle has been proposed as threatened throughout its range and is currently under review for protection under the Endangered Species Act, with a final decision pending at the time of this writing.

In addition to assisting with the ongoing long-term monitoring study of this population, UHCL staff, students, volunteers, and project partners also supported the filming of a segment on alligator snapping turtles, which is to be featured in the upcoming documentary Deep in the Heart Part II: A Texas River Story by Fin & Fur Films. This documentary is a follow-up to the 2022 film Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story, which received national acclaim and was narrated by Matthew McConaughey. Over the four-day sampling event, UHCL staff and students helped the film crew with staging turtles, coordinating scene settings, and learning about how important documentaries such as Deep in the Heart are to educating the public about species conservation and research.

All work was conducted under TPWD Scientific Permit for Research SPR-0620-082.

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Learn more about the Environmental Institute of Houston’s turtle research by visiting our Research page.