Julia A. Horrocks, Ph.D.

Research

Julia Horrocks is a professor of conservation ecology at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, Barbados, and director of Barbados Sea Turtle Project. Horrocks’ Pew fellowship provided technical and training assistance to sea turtle managers and conservationists in other countries in the region, helping them develop and implement their own monitoring and conservation initiatives. One means of achieving this was through development of the Marine Turtle Tagging Centre, part of the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network. This has resulted in strengthening and coordinating the many previously isolated small-scale tagging projects in the region, facilitating collaboration among range states with regard to sea turtle tagging, and documenting international movements. Another primary goal of Horrocks’ fellowship was to examine the potential for economic benefit derived from sea turtle eco-tourism, which can be an important conservation option for developing countries in the region. Her findings suggested that both types of in-water sea turtle tourism can provide an alternative activity to the more conventional focus on nesting beach activities, provided that they are properly regulated. As a result of her work, this approach to eco-tourism may become an option for countries in the eastern Caribbean. To learn more about Horrocks, visit her bio online. https://www.cavehill.uwi.edu/fst/bcs/staff/julia-horrocks.aspx