Karen L. Eckert, Ph.D.

Research

Karen Eckert is a professor and director of the Principia College Center for Sustainability as well as executive director of the Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network (WIDECAST). Eckert’s Pew fellowship allowed her to transform the loosely organized WIDECAST into a nonprofit organization, thus enlarging its capacity to raise funds; provide technical assistance to local Caribbean partners; and promote integrated, scientifically sound conservation, research, and management for threatened and endangered sea turtles across the western Atlantic. As a result, more than 80 percent of wider Caribbean nations now fully protect their sea turtles, nearly all have adopted a national sea turtle management plan, poaching and illegal product sales have been dramatically reduced or eliminated, many of the region’s largest breeding colonies are monitored on an annual basis (and most are fully protected), alternative livelihood models are increasingly available for rural areas, and citizens are mobilized in support of conservation action.

To learn more about Eckert, visit her bio online: https://iucn-mtsg.org/members/member-profiles/karen-eckert.