Roosenburg Lab at Ohio University

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Roosenburg Lab at Ohio University The Roosenburg Lab is part of the Ohio University Department of Biological Sciences. Research focuses on vertebrate ecology and evolution.

The Roosenburg Lab at Ohio University works with vertebrate conservation, population ecology and evolution, including outreach and education programs. Poplar Island Project: Poplar Island is a large scale environmental restoration site created by the Army Corps of Engineers that is rebuilding salt marshes, tidal mudflats, and upland coastal forests. Poplar Island is being rebuilt in the Chesapeake Bay using dredge material from the Baltimore Shipping Channel that must be removed to allow for the safe passage of ships. Terrapins began nesting on sandy beaches formed by the dredge material. The lack of mammalian nest predators allows for high nest success every year. A long term mark-recapture study has allowed us to study the life history of terrapins in detail, as well as the effectiveness of headstart programs. The headstart program provides outreach in K-12 schools across Maryland. It involves students raising terrapins in the classroom setting and collecting growth data to contribute to the program. The students then travel to Poplar Island to release their terrapins and observe their state reptile in its natural habitat. The Poplar Island project is partnered with the Diamondback Terrapin Working Group (dtwg):
www.facebook.com/terrapin.dtwg

Nelsonville Bypass Project: The Nelsonville Bypass is an 8.5 mile stretch of highway in Nelsonville, OH that bisects Wayne National Forest. The Ohio Department of Transportation has installed multiple wildlife crossings and fencing containing deer-jumpouts to limit wildlife mortality and mitigate habitat fragmentation. The Roosenburg Lab studies the amphibians and reptiles at this site. Surveys and mark recapture methods are used to document present species, determine population sizes, and evaluate the impact of the bypass on these animals. The installed culverts will be studied to determine whether animals are crossing the entire culvert or exiting out the same side they entered. This will determine whether the culverts are effectively mitigating road habitat fragmentation. Current Graduate Students: Steve Krichbaum, Paul Converse, Sarah Kitson, Garrett Sisson, Charlene Hopkins

August 31st was another day of closure for me. Yesterday the longtime mascot of my lab, Fred, was given a new home at th...
09/01/2026

August 31st was another day of closure for me. Yesterday the longtime mascot of my lab, Fred, was given a new home at the University of Maryland. Fred is the terrapin that I hatched out from an egg collected from the Patuxent River in 1987 when I started my terrapin career as a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania. He was part of an experiment to confirm whether temperature dependent s*x determination occurs in terrapins. He has remained in my lab since he hatched out. He was named Fred by Dawn Ford-Holliday in 2003 and was excellently taken care of by Eric Lindner and Tammy of Lab Animal Resources and a host of students at Ohio University that became enamered with him during the summers while I was away in Chesapeake Bay doing research. He has spent most of his life in a 50 gallon aquarium alone. Yesterday, I took Fred to the University of Maryland's College of Education where he will continue his role in terrapin education, outreach, and conservation. He will be cared for by Angela Stoltz and Amy Green at UMD and will eventually be placed in UMDs new Alumni Center where he will be in an 800 gallon tank and hopefully finally have some companionship with other terrapins. It has been suggested that he will be renamed "Testudo" as the UMD mascot which is much more distinguished, but he will forever remain Fred in my heart. It was a melancholy experience handing Fred off to his new experience but I also am excited and confident that he will be excellently taken care of and continue his role in inceasing awareness for such a unique species. I am looking forward to visiting Fred in his new home.

After taking Fred to UMD and I texted my colleague and longtime friend Steve Barry and we met for lunch. Steve, Will Williams and I started what has now become the TERP Program at Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center in 2004. This program is now run by the Port of Baltimore TERP Program. Raising Fred in my lab helped lay some of the groundwork for raising terrapins in captivity. Reaching out to Steve was a perfect way to dissolve the sadness after giving Fred to the UMD.

I retired 1 November 2024 but I remain active as Professor Emeritus at Ohio University, continuing my research on terrapins with Upstream Alliance, and as the Treasurer, of the Herpetologists' League.

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Athens, OH
45701

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