Michaela Wiersema

Michaela Wiersema has been a staff member of theTurtleRoom (tTR) for several years and contributes to the Education Department through authoring various articles, and the Animal Husbandry Department where she cares for important assurance colonies. Michaela has been an avid reptile enthusiast for as long as she can remember and has been keeping multiple species for over a decade. As a young child, she would catch and care for crickets, praying mantises, and other insects to satisfy her urge to study wildlife. The majority of her free time was spent herping in the woods, marshes, and bogs, frequently emerging covered in mud with a six foot long snake in hand.

Her passion for chelonians in particular began about ten years ago when she was gifted with a newly hatched Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina). This fueled a love for the Terrapene genus that eventually expanded to many other species. She currently works with Indotestudo forstenii (Forsten’s Tortoise) and Manouria emys emys (Asian Brown Forest Tortoise), and has worked with over thirty other chelonian species. She plans to eventually maintain species of the Cuora (Asian Box Turtles) genus within her personal collection, with a special interest in Cuora mouhotii mouhotii and C. m. obsti (Three-Keeled Box Turtles). Michaela has also been a guest speaker at several reptile events as well as a regular author for REPTILES magazine.

Michaela is currently working on her bachelor’s degree in Biology with the goal of applying to medical school in the future. She has been riding and training horses for ten years, and enjoys the sport of eventing aboard her equine companion. A dedicated marathoner, she runs over fifty miles per week and has won both the Harlingen Marathon and the Brownsville Half-Marathon. She currently lives in the Rio Grande Valley has been a staff member of TheTurtleRoom for several years and contributes to the educational department through authoring various articles, and the husbandry department through the care of important assurance colonies. She has been an dedicated reptile enthusiast for as long as she can remember and has been keeping multiple species for over a decade. As a young child, she would capture and care for crickets, praying mantises, and other insects to satisfy her urge to study wildlife. The majority of her free time was spent herping in the woods, marshes, and bogs, frequently emerging covered in mud with a six foot long snake in hand.

Her passion for chelonians in particular began about ten years ago when she was gifted with a newly hatched Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina). This fueled a love for the Terrapene genus that eventually expanded to many other species. She currently works with Indotestudo forstenii (Forsten’s Tortoise) and Manouria emys emys (Asian Brown Forest Tortoise), and has worked with over thirty other chelonian species including those from the Kinixys (Hinge-Back Tortoises) and Heosemys genera. Her goal is to eventually maintain species of the Cuora (Asian Box Turtles) genus within her personal collection, with a special interest in Cuora mouhotii mouhotii and C. m. obsti (Three-Keeled Box Turtles). Naturalistic habitats are of vital importance to her, and she seeks to maintain all her animals in the most natural environments possible to promote optimum health. Michaela has also been a guest speaker at several reptile events as well as a regular author for REPTILES magazine. She is passionate about sharing her love of chelonians with others, and seeks to promote awareness regarding the critical conservation status of the world’s turtle and tortoise species through her articles and presentations.

Michaela is currently working on her bachelor’s degree in Biology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with the goal of applying to medical school in 2021. She has been riding and training horses for ten years, and enjoys the sport of eventing aboard her equine companion, although she has hit the dirt many a time. A dedicated long-distance runner, she trains over fifty miles per week at crazy hours of the morning, and has won both the Harlingen Marathon and the Brownsville Half-Marathon. Few people realize that she is a musician at heart, and has been playing the piano for 18 years. Michaela currently resides in the city of Harlingen nestled deep in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas at the border of Mexico, and is thrilled to live in the beautiful sub-tropics where members of her reptile collection can thrive outdoors year-round.