NSU Fisheries and Avian Ecology Lab

They are incredible!

This data will help her determine if their movement and behavior are impacted by abootic factors in the environment. Great work Mary, and huge thank you to FWC for your support!

A few weeks ago, one of our graduate students Mary Gardella went out with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for her thesis work. Mary is using passive acoustic telemetry to track the movement of Bluntnose stingrays in the Indian River Lagoon, FL.

They got to see animals like Darwin’s finches, giant tortoises, Galapagos sharks, manta rays, and Blue-footed boobies. They also visited the recent eruption sites (2005 & 2018) on Sierra Negra volcano. What an awesome trip! 🦈🐢🌊 (3/3)

Visiting islands Isabela, Floreana, Santa Cruz, and Bartolomé, students conducted mini research projects analyzed ecological concepts in person such as evolution and invasive species theories. (2/3)

For the past few weeks, our PI Dr. Kerstetter, graduate student Alexia Hilber, and undergraduate students ventured to the Galápagos Islands as a research trip for their Ecology of the Galápagos Islands class. (1/3)

And that’s a wrap for Tortuga Music Festival 2025! Huge thank you to Rock The Ocean for hosting this incredible event that allows us to share our research with the community. We are so grateful for this partnership! We had nearly 500 guests visit the booth. Hope you all had as much fun as we did! 💙🌊

We had WAY too much fun setting up our booth in preparation for Tortuga this weekend. Want to find out what the pool is for? You’ll have to stop by!!! We can’t wait to see you 🌊🌴🎶

Here are some more fun posters and great work from the 2025 Undergraduate Student Symposium!

Our PI, Dr. Kerstetter, giving the opening speech as the keynote faculty speaker!

Kevin presenting a census of non-U.S. billfish and swordfish recreational tournaments in the ICCAT Convention Area

Katie presenting size at sexual maturity of the bluntnose and Altantic stingray from the Indian River Lagoon, FL

The 2025 Undergraduate Student Symposium was a success! Congratulations to two of our awesome undergrad researchers, Kevin Rafferty and Katie McKimmy, for presenting their hard work yesterday!

Don’t miss us at the #conservationvillage April 4, 5, and 6 to learn more about the conservation work going on in the lab! 🦈🐟🪶🪱

Tortuga through the years! 🌊🌴☀️

Did you know the lab has hosted a booth at Rock The Ocean’s Tortuga Music Festival for multiple years in a row? We are so honored to have been invited back for another year - and it’s just 10 days away!

Four-leaf clover or parasite? 🤔

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the fish and bird lab! Pictured is a tapeworm called Rhinebothrium that was found in a stingray by MSMS student Sarah Sargent who is studying the parasite communities of two stingray species! 🍀

For more information…
Visit @rocktheocean on Instagram or www.rocktheocean.com to learn more about how to get involved. Follow our Instagram (@nsufishnbirdlab) to keep up with the exciting things we have planned! 💙🌴

Conservation Village

Inside the festival is the conservation village, hosting 20-30 organizations dedicated to ocean conservation. Each organization will have a booth (including us!) with activities to educate about their efforts to support our oceans.

What is Tortuga Music Festival (TMF)?

Tortuga Music Festivsl is a country music festival founded by Rock The Ocean. It is the most sustainable large-scale music festival on the planet and has raised over $4 million to support our oceans.

What is Rock The Ocean?
Rock The Ocean is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to ocean conservation. They strive to increase public awareness about issues impacting the world’s oceans through research and education.

Great news! 🌊 Our lab is partnering with Rock The Ocean for Tortuga Music Festival 2025! Here is a thread to learn about this collaboration.

For more information…

Visit @rocktheocean on Instagram or www.rocktheocean.com to learn more about how to get involved. Follow our Instagram (@nsufishnbirdlab) to keep up with the exciting things we have planned! 💙🌴

Conservation Village

Inside the festival is the conservation village, hosting 20-30 organizations dedicated to ocean conservation. Each organization will have a booth (including us) with activities to educate about their efforts to support our oceans.

What is Tortuga Music Festival (TMF)?

TMF is a country music festival founded by Rock the Ocean. It is the most sustainable large-scale music festival on the planet and has raised over $4 million to support our oceans.

What is Rock the Ocean?

Rock the Ocean is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to ocean conservation. They strive to increase public awareness about issues impacting the world’s oceans through research and education.

Congratulations to Shelby Boyles, who presented her current thesis work at day 2 of the HCAS Research Graduate Symposium last week!

The Preferred Menu of Two Stingrays: A Wide Selection of Small Invertebrates and More

Day 1 of the HCAS Research Graduate Symposium was a success! Congratulations to our 3 lab members who presented yesterday.

Good luck to Shelby Boyles who presents her stingray diet content work today at 10:00 am!

Today marks 10 years of celebrating International Day of Women and Girls in Science 👩🏼‍🔬🐟🦈🌊

So grateful for the opportunities I have been blessed with and the amazing women I have had the privilege of working with.

The Next Generation of Black Women in Marine Science Black in Marine Science and The Nature Conservancy team up to give a group of students a week of scuba diving, marine science lessons and cultural experiences in St. Croix.

The Next Generation of Black Women in Marine Science

🌊💙🦈🪶