Staff Members

Michael is a Staff Writer for theTurtleRoom, producing educational content. Michael is a junior in high school and has pursued a passion for chelonians since second grade. He has now amassed hundreds of books on every aspect of turtle and tortoise ecology and spends his free time learning about turtles.

Michael currently splits his time between school work, where he is in advanced AP/IB classes, and assisting with multiple NAFTRG projects/studies in Texas. He is working on a research project in collaboration with the Los Angeles Natural History Museum investigating intraspecific basking patterns displayed by Southern Pacific Pond Turtles. He is currently a Founders Fellow and serves as an advisor on the SSAR Founders Fellowship committee, has received both the IHS Junior Herpetologist Award (2018) and JMIH’s pre-college research award, and has been distinguished by the OC register as a “Whiz Kid” for his work.

Max is a staff writer at theTurtleRoom, joining the education team to help further theTurtleRoom’s mission. He is also currently a zookeeper at Denver Zoo with his wife. He has been published in scientific journals and written species profiles for other conservation organizations. Max has a Bachelor of Science in Zoology from Colorado State University. He lives in Colorado with his wife, Krystin, and their many animals. He loves to go out into the field looking for turtles, spending time with his family, watching and playing sports, and working on his turtle habitat, aka backyard.

Jenn is the Lead Educator for the TurtleRoom (tTR) and is working on developing a new educational program for tTR. She has been an environmental educator for over 10 years and enjoys working with all audiences. Jenn is also a part of the team on tTR’s Pennsylvania Wood Turtle Monitoring project.

Jenn stays very busy nannying for two boys. When she isn’t working or educating for tTR, she spends time with her boyfriend in Lynx, Ohio on a 27-acre property doing homestead projects such as gardening, making herbal medicine, and creating wildlife habitats.

Jenn enjoys traveling and has been a volunteer in Costa Rica twice, working with green and leatherback sea turtles. Whenever visiting new places she always finds something in nature or turtle-themed to do. Her current pets include Winkston, the one-eyed kitty, MeShell the Russian Tortoise, an African Pygmy Hedgehog, and her five rescue aquatic turtles.

Matt is a Staff Writer for theTurtleRoom’s Education Department, which includes contributing to World Turtle News. He has spent the last 8 years dedicating himself to the conservation of turtles and to the education of the public about them, and he has a passion for serving nonprofit organizations. His love for turtles – and all living things – has been with him his entire life. Matt has been both a member of and staff member for organizations that promote the protection of animals, including as an ambassador enrichment handler for the Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort (AWARE) wildlife rehab in Georgia and an Educations Docent at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center. He has experience working with and educating about many other species of turtles who are in need, such as North American Wood Turtles (Glyptemys insculpta), Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus), and Diamondback Terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin ssp.).