World Turtle News 06/25/2021

Liam is a zoologist and conservationist from the UK and is currently studying for his Ph.D in Ireland. Liam obtained his M.S. in Zoology with Conservation from Bangor University, Wales in 2018. He has always had a fascination with the natural world and tries to experience as much of it as possible, whether that’s through his travels, work or wildlife photography. After knowing the career path he wanted to take in zoology/conservation, Liam then took a keen interest in reptiles, particularly turtles and tortoises after starting to research and read about them in his own time and during his degree.

Through a lot of luck, Liam is now studying marine turtles for his Ph.D with the main focus on marine turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP). FP is a tumor forming disease afflicting all seven marine turtle species but affects green turtles (Chelonia mydas) most. He studies in Limerick, Ireland but also gets to venture to Florida occasionally for his research.

Liam also keeps a leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius) and common musk turtle (Sternotherus odoratus) at home, which forms one of his hobbies. He also is an amateur wildlife photographer.