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In Defense of Our Natural Resources
This story is part of a series called In Defense of Our Natural Resources, highlighting the success of the Army’s partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Army has dedicated more than $13M in 2023 and 2024 to execute projects restoring habitat, preserving endangered species , and protecting critical ecosystems across 152 installations.
The Army and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are committed to empowering early career professionals to take on these mission critical roles and providing valuable employment experience. This feature highlights the work of Shelby Truckenbrod, PhD student working at Fort Devens.
Spotlight - Shelby Truckenbrod
Shelby Truckenbrod is a PhD student at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Through a partnership with the USFWS and the Army, she works at Fort Devens in eastern Massachusetts, facilitating partnerships to monitor and research Blanding’s turtles.
After completing her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point and successfully defending her Master’s thesis at Nicholls State University in Louisiana, Truckenbrod encountered this position on the Texas A&M University Natural Resources Job Board.
“I’ve always loved turtles. They’ve really driven my interest in conservation,” said Truckenbrod. “When I saw this opening, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to combine my passions.”
Blanding’s turtles are a species at risk. Compared to other aquatic turtles, they require larger landscapes to roam in search of food and nesting habitats, putting them at a higher risk of crossing roads and facing deadly encounters with cars. Their declining populations means this semi-aquatic freshwater turtle could become listed under the Endangered Species Act.
“There’s a unique opportunity to look at connectivity,” said Truckenbrod. “We have these properties that haven’t worked together in the past, now coming together.”
She studies turtles not only at Fort Devens, but also across adjacent Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge and Bolton Flats Wildlife Management Area. The nesting and trapping surveys Truckenbrod conducts paint a picture of how these turtles move across and between properties. At Fort Devens, sandy open areas that have been cleared for shooting ranges double as nesting habitat for the Blanding’s turtle. Studying where the turtles spend their time allows the team to mitigate the threats of human interference and predation by urban scavengers like raccoons.
“By identifying the corridors the turtles use to move, we can inform risk reduction strategies,” said Truckenbrod. Her research will influence placement of tools like road fencing in addition to identifying new areas and strategies for mitigating threats faced by the Blanding’s turtle.
At the completion of her program, Truckenbrod hopes to continue her career in conservation research. “I’m interested in spatial and movement ecology, and the impacts it has on conservation,” said Truckenbrod. Knowing where species are and how they move pinpoints where preservation and conservation efforts need to be focused. After all, saving a species starts with learning how it accesses food and shelter in its ecosystem.
