by Brian Williamson, Research Scientist
Since 1990, The Wetlands Institute has worked with Joe Grotolla, a science teacher at Lower Cape May Regional High School, to help protect local terrapins. Joe, and more recently Travis Davis, help raise terrapin hatchlings in their classroom as part of our head-starting project, and Joe has been an active participant in our Turtle Patrol, aimed at tracking terrapin road mortality and directly rescuing terrapins from roads for 35 years.
As a part of this effort, each year Joe brings a cadré of LCMRHS students who volunteer their time helping our staff with seasonal terrapin barrier fence maintenance. We assess and repair this fencing every year, and these dedicated students make our job much easier – and since the fencing is designed to keep terrapins off the roadways, their work makes a real difference for the turtles as well.
Our partnership with both Joe Grotolla and Travis Davis at LCMRHS has been invaluable to our mission, helping us understand and protect local terrapin populations, and we are proud to be able to continue working with them to advance our mission.