Education
Ph.D., Zoology, University of New Hampshire, 2013
B.A., Biological Anthropology, Harvard University, 1998
About
Dr. Kara Dodge is a Research Scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center where her work on sea turtle behavior and ecology intersects with multiple programs, including Fisheries Science and Emerging Technologies (FSET), Marine Stress and Ocean Health, and Bycatch. Kara’s research focuses on management-driven needs for baseline data on threatened and endangered sea turtles to support conservation and recovery efforts for these imperiled species. She and her collaborators use a variety of innovative tools and techniques, including satellite and acoustic telemetry, autonomous underwater vehicles, videography, oceanographic sampling, and stable isotope analysis to investigate sea turtle seasonal distribution, movements, behavior, diet, habitat, genetics, health, physiology, and anthropogenic impacts. Kara also collaborates on international meta-analyses of sea turtle distribution and dispersal to understand human impacts (fisheries bycatch, shipping, marine plastics, climate change) on these species at a global scale.
Select Publications
Dodge KL, Kukulya AL, Burke E, Baumgartner MF. 2018. TurtleCam: a “smart” autonomous underwater vehicle for investigating behaviors and habitats of sea turtles. Frontiers in Marine Science doi: 10.3389/fmars.2018.00090
Jaspers C, Costello JH, Sutherland KR, Gemmell B, Lucas KN, Tackett J, Dodge KL, Colin SP. 2017. Resilience in moving water: effects of turbulence on the predatory impact of the lobate ctenophore Mnemiopis leidyi. Limnology and Oceanography doi:10.1002/lno.10642
Roden SE, Stewart KR, James M, Dodge KL, Dell’Amico F, Dutton PH. 2017. Genetic fingerprinting reveals natal origins of male leatherback turtles encountered in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Marine Biology 164(9):181 doi:10.1007/s00227-017-3211-0
Patel SH, Dodge KL, Haas HL, Smolowitz RJ. 2016. Videography reveals in-water behavior of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) at a foraging ground. Frontiers in Marine Science 3:254. doi:10.3389/fmars.2016.00254
Dodge KL, Galuardi B, Lutcavage ME. 2015 Orientation behaviour of leatherback sea turtles within the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 282: 20143129 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.3129
Innis CJ, Merigo C, Cavin JM, Hunt K, Dodge KL, Lutcavage ME. 2014. Serial assessment of the physiologic status of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) during direct capture events in the northwestern Atlantic: comparison of post-capture and pre-release data. Conservation Physiology 2: doi:10.1093/conphys/cou048
Dodge KL, Galuardi B, Miller TJ, Lutcavage ME. 2014 Leatherback turtle movements, dive behavior, and habitat characteristics in ecoregions of the Northwest Atlantic ocean. PLoS ONE 9(3): e91726. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0091726
Logan JM, Dodge KL. 2013. Comment on ‘Stable isotopes challenge the perception of ocean sunfish Mola mola as obligate jellyfish predators’. Journal of Fish Biology 82:1-9 doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2012.03432.x
Dodge KL, Logan JM, Lutcavage ME. 2011 Foraging ecology of leatherback sea turtles in the Western North Atlantic determined through multi-tissue stable isotope analyses. Marine Biology 158(12): 2813-2824 doi:10.1007/s00227-011-1780-x
Innis C, Merigo C, Dodge K, Tlusty M, Dodge M, Sharp B, Myers A, McIntosh A, Wunn D, Perkins C, Herdt T, Norton T, Lutcavage M. 2010. Health evaluation of leatherback turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) in the Northwestern Atlantic during direct capture and fisheries gear disentanglement. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 9:205-222 doi:10.2744/CCB-0838.1
News
- The Vineyard Gazette: Scientists and derby officials team up to help save leatherback turtles
- WCAI NPR: Saving sea turtles
- Cape Cod Times: A perilous journey for two leatherbacks
- NOAA Fisheries: Leatherback sea turtles: updating technologies to follow new species in surprising ways
- The Boston Globe: Watch a leatherback turtle chow down like Pac-Man as it makes its way through the ocean
- Oceanus Magazine: To track a sea turtle: underwater vehicles follow tagged turtles in the wild
- Cape Cod Times: WHOI scientists tracking leatherbacks capitalize on moment
- Oceanus Magazine: TurtleCam: exploring the secret life of endangered leatherback turtles
- The Boston Globe: Woods Hole researchers raising money to study leatherback turtles with ‘Shark Week’ robot
- WCAI NPR: SharkCam to get new mission: tracking sea turtles
- Cape Cod Times: Leatherback navigation study released
- The New York Times: Leatherback turtles don’t need google maps
- The Boston Globe: Researchers track sea turtles’ migration away from N.E.
- Cape Cod Times: Study: leatherbacks stay near Cape
- The Boston Globe: Gloucester scientists track migration of giant sea turtles
- BBC Radio 4 “World on the Move: Great Animal Migrations” 5-part series
Affiliations