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Jeff Seminoff holding juvenile sea turtle.

Jeffrey Seminoff, Ph.D.

Program Lead, Marine Turtle Ecology and Assessment
Marine Mammal and Turtle Division
Office: (858) 546-7152
Email: jeffrey.seminoff@noaa.gov

Jeffrey Seminoff, Ph.D.

Program Lead, Marine Turtle Ecology and Assessment

Jeff Seminoff is the head of  the Marine Turtle Ecology & Assessment Program and Director of the Stable Isotope Laboratory at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center (La Jolla, California). Since 1992, Jeffrey has been involved in ecological research and conservation of sea turtles in the Pacific Ocean. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 2000 and was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Archie Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research, University of Florida from 2000 to 2002. Jeff is the past-president of the International Sea Turtle Society, and hosted the 31st International Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation in San Diego in 2011. He also served as a team leader for the green sea turtle status assessments for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and the U.S. Endangered Species Act. He is Editor of the hard-cover book Sea Turtles of the Eastern Pacific (University of Arizona Press) and was team leader for the green sea turtle status assessments for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and the U.S. Endangered Species Act. 

Jeff currently serves as the U.S. Delegate for the Scientific Committee of the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles. He is the Executive Editor of the professional scientific journal Chelonian Conservation and Biology, and serves as Editor for several journals: Endangered Species Research, Indian Ocean Marine Turtle Newsletter, and Sea Turtles of the Eastern Pacific (University of Arizona Press). Jeff employs innovative approaches in his research including stable isotope analysis, biotelemetry, animal-borne imagery, and aerial surveys, all of which elucidate the life history of sea turtles throughout the Pacific Ocean. His has authored over 140 peer-reviewed publications, and his research has been featured in numerous popular magazines and news outlets, as well as on the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, PBS, and National Geographic Explorer. Jeff lives with his wife, Jennifer, and children, Quin and Graeson, in San Diego along with an assortment of pets including dogs, tortoises, lizards, and snakes.