INVITED ARTICLE FROM THE 2021 TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE TEXAS DISTINGUISHED SCIENTIST

Donna Shaver is the Chief of the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery at Padre Island National Seashore and the Texas Coordinator of the U.S. Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sea Turtle Society in 2018, the 2013 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Recovery Champion Award for Agency Partner in 2014, the Corpus Christi Caller Times 2011 Newsmaker of the Year in 2012, and she was the ABC World News Tonight’s Person of the Week on July 29, 2005. She has studied Texas sea turtles since 1980 and is well known for her leadership role in the recovery of the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. Her studies describing sea turtle migratory and foraging habitat use, as well as nesting and stranding trends, have led to increased protections for sea turtles in Texas and beyond. With over 400 scientific publications and presentations, Shaver is distinguished as one of the top sea turtle biologists in the USA and was named the 2021 Texas Distinguished Scientist at the annual meeting of the Texas Academy of Science. Shaver oversees a variety of sea turtle research and conservation projects conducted in Texas, collaborates with other researchers in the USA and Mexico, and provides training and leadership to hundreds of biologists and volunteers working with sea turtles in Texas.