Professor working to save endangered Northern Illinois turtle
When she’s not busy grading papers or teaching organismal biology at Benedictine, Leigh Anne Harden, Ph.D., likes to trudge through murky bodies of water and dive for turtles — all in the name of research.
“My research questions revolve around how ectotherms (cold-blooded) vertebrates function and interact with their environment, particularly in the face of urbanization and climate change, and how this information can be used to help conserve them,” Harden said.
In northeastern Illinois, the effort to save the Blanding’s turtle includes several county forest preserve districts including DuPage, Lake and McHenry counties and involves world-renowned wildlife specialists, ecologists and social scientists. Biologists capture pregnant turtles, induce ovulation, incubate their eggs, and rear the hatchings for a couple of years before releasing them back into their natural habitat once they are larger and more likely to survive.
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Photo from Benedictine University Newsroom.
