Professor’s Research Attracts Media Attention

Two research projects biology professor Dr. Scott Eckert (C'79) is working on have attracted attention recently in The Telegraph, a local news publication, and in On Value, an online site and print magazine that explores different ways of finding—and being of—value.

The news feature in The Telegraph focuses on Eckert’s work tracking timber rattlesnakes. For years now, Principia College students have assisted Eckert on this project, tracing the snakes’ travel patterns on parts of the College campus and surrounding areas. Of particular concern to Eckert is the snakes’ loss of habitat due to a reduction in forest land over many decades, resulting in the timber rattlesnake being declared a threatened species. Read about Eckert’s work and Principia students’ role in this research. 

The feature in the inaugural issue of On Value looks at Eckert's work with another species, leatherback turtles. Renowned for his contributions to the study and conservation of this large sea turtle, Eckert developed a multipronged approach to their protection, engaging the local community in Trinidad, where the turtles nest. Learn about Eckert’s work with leatherbacks.