Russell L. Burke’s longstanding interest in reptiles was the major influence in his decision to pursue a career in biology. His biggest complaint growing up in northern Ohio was that there were no venomous snakes near where he lived, and he seized the earliest opportunities to visit Florida where they could be found. He earned a B.S. in zoology from Ohio State University. While reading Archie Carr’s work on sea turtles he was especially taken by Carr’s argument that wildlife can be harvested sustainably and pay for their own conservation if they are managed wisely. This led to graduate work on gopher tortoise conservation and an M.S. in wildlife ecology from the University of Florida in Gainesville. Burke earned a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Michigan where his work involved investigations of ecology and evolution of midwestern freshwater turtles.His main research foci have concerned the ecology, evolution, and conservation of reptiles, particularly the manipulation of populations. This can be valuable when populations are small, such as rare and desirable species; when they are too big, such as for pest and disease species; and when they are valuable, such as for harvested species. His current long-term projects include ecological studies of diamondback terrapins in Jamaica Bay and wood turtles in northern New Jersey, both rare species. He has conducted numerous shorter studies on the ecology of invasive Italian wall lizards on Long Island and in Italy. He has been involved with studies of Lyme disease, its tick vectors, and its wildlife hosts, since 2002. He regularly collaborates with colleagues from the American Museum of Natural History, Queens College, University of Rhode Island, Michigan State University, University of Tennessee (Knoxville), Georgia Southern University, and Museo Civico di Zoologia (Rome). He has received grants to support his research from the Hudson River Foundation, the New York City Environmental Fund, the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Park Service.At Hofstra Dr. Burke teaches ecology, evolution, conservation biology, urban ecology, and wildlife disease ecology, and he is one of the coordinators of the new Urban Ecology program. He co-teaches Hofstra’s biennial biology-geology study abroad class on the Evolutionary Ecology and Geology of Ecuador, including the Galápagos Islands. He has an active research laboratory that involves high school students, Hofstra undergraduates, and usually six to eight graduate students in every aspect of his research projects.
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Received: 8 May 2015
Revised and Accepted: 11 August 2015
Handling Editor: Jeffrey A. Seminoff
Chelonian Conservation and Biology, 2015, 14(2): 201–203
g 2015 Chelonian Research Foundation
Pursuing Pepper Protection: Habanero
Pepper Powder Does Not Reduce Raccoon
Predation of Terrapin Nests
RUSSELL L. BURKE1,*, MARIAN VARGAS1,2, AND
ALEXANDRA KANONIK1,3
1Department of Biology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York
11549 USA [biorlb@hofstra.edu];
2Department of Environmental Science and Forestry, College of
Environmental Science and Forestry at State University of New York,
Syracuse, New York 13210 USA [mvaelas@gmail.com];
3Department of Conservation and Waterways, Town of Hempstead,
Lido Boulevard, Point Lookout, New York 11569 USA
[akkanonik@gmail.com]
*Corresponding author
ABSTRACT. – We replicated the turtle nest predation-
reducing technique used successfully in 2013 by
Lamarre-DeJesus and Griffin to test its generality
with a different turtle species and a different predator.
We found that the application of habanero pepper
powder to diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terra-
pin) nests did not reduce predation by raccoons
(Procyon lotor). This suggests that the efficacy of
predator-reducing techniques should be tested for each
combination of turtle and predator species.
Turtle nests commonly experience high rates of
depredation