Biography

Erin Seney is an Associate Research Scientist and non-teaching faculty member with the Marine Turtle Research Group in the University of Central Florida’s Department of Biology. She holds a B.A. in Biology (University of Virginia), an M.S. in Marine Science (College of William and Mary), a Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science (Texas A&M University), and a professional certificate in Geographic Information Systems (George Mason University). After receiving her Ph.D., Dr. Seney was an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow placed at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation, and she later ran her own consulting business.

Dr. Seney’s areas of expertise include marine turtle movement and diet, conservation biology, fisheries, and policy, and she has experience with marine turtle nesting, in-water, stranding, and rehabilitation programs. Dr. Seney has authored and co-authored publications on marine turtle diet, movement, distribution, and stock assessment; implications of climate change on Endangered Species Act decisions; and fishery bycatch. At UCF, she manages and participates in long-term monitoring and research at central Florida nesting beaches and in-water habitats, and she leads research characterizing the diets of wild sea turtles. Dr. Seney is has collaborated with genomics expert Dr. Anna Forsman​ on projects aimed at identifying sea turtle diet items and characterizing microbiome using DNA metabarcoding. She also collaborates with Marine Turtle Research Group graduate students and periodically mentors past undergraduate interns on ecology- and conservation-focused research projects.