Christine Light

I received my Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Baruch College in NYC. After graduating, I moved to Southern California and switched my focus to Marine Biology. While in California I worked as an Aquarist in the aquarium industry, working with many different species of marine fish, sharks, and invertebrates. After moving to Denver, I worked as the Assistant Curator of Fish, Invertebrates, and Herps at the Downtown Aquarium. While there, i worked with a variety of freshwater turtle species and successfully rehabbed a sick Painted Terrapin. That experience inspired me to want to do conservation work with freshwater turtles and tortoises. Returning to Southern California, I spent three years at the Turtle Conservancy's (www.turtleconservancy.org) conservation and captive breeding facility, where I had the opportunity to work with some of the world's most critically endangered turtles and tortoises in a ex situ environment. I am also the former SSP Coordinator and AZA Regional Studbook Keeper for the Forsten's Tortoise. (SSP Program; AZA Regional Studbook Program) I am now partnering with the Turtle Survival Alliance (www.turtlesurvival.org) to continue the research and conservation efforts focused on the two endemic chelonians of Sulawesi.

August 2016