OUR MISSION
The Jumby Bay Hawksbill Project seeks to better understand the life history and population dynamics of the hawksbill sea turtle in hopes that our findings will serve as a foundation for wise management and sound scientifically-grounded policymaking. We strive to promote the successful conservation of sea turtles in Antigua and across the region through increased public awareness of marine turtles. Only through long-term public support will hawksbills in Antigua and Barbuda - and the greater Caribbean - have a chance at survival and recovery.
WHAT WE DO
The Jumby Bay Hawksbill Project is a long-term research and conservation program, monitoring the hawksbill sea turtle nesting colony on Long Island, Antigua in the West Indies. The JBHP stands as the longest, continuous running hawksbill research program in the world. Since the project’s inception in 1987, close to 500 nesting hawksbills have been individually identified and tagged, and hundreds of thousands of hatchlings have scurried down the sand into Pasture Bay to begin their life journeys. Many of those turtles first tagged back in the late 1980s are still returning Jumby Bay’s beaches more than two decades later! And new, first-time nesters join the population as new recruits every year.
While the island and the project continue to evolve, the core of our research program – nightly, hourly beach patrols to tag nesting hawksbills – remains the same as it has for the past quarter-century. This research consistency is one factor that sets the JBHP apart and highlights the project’s value to the sea turtle conservation community.
WHO WE ARE
Seth Stapleton, Director and Principal Investigator
Seth has served as Director and PI since 2007 after first joining the JBHP as Field Director in 2004 and 2005 with his wife Carol. For his day job, he oversees the Minnesota Zoo's wildlife conservation projects, ranging from black rhino research in Namibia to wood turtle tracking in Minnesota. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota and at NC State. Seth completed his PhD at the University of Minnesota researching polar bears, and earned an MSc in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Georgia and BS degrees in Biology and Environmental Science from the College of William & Mary. He enjoys hanging out with Carol and their three young sons Jonah, Leo and Cole, walking his dog, traipsing through the woods, and traveling to far flung places.
​​
Emily Evangelist, 2025 Field Director
Emily, a University of Minnesota graduate, began working with the JBHP as a Field Director >3 years ago. During her contributions over several field seasons and thousands of nesting patrols, she has become an integral part of the JBHP team.
​
Jeannie Alva, 2025 Field Director
Jeannie served as a Field Director for the 2025 nesting season. She graduated from Eckerd College in Spring 2025, where she majored in Marine Biology.
​
Kaitlyn Rommelfanger, 2025 Field Director
Kaitlyn monitored Pasture Beach for the second half of the 2025 field season. She joined the JBHP after completing her Master's degree at the University of the Virgin Islands.
​​​​
Kate Levasseur, Research Associate
Kate served as a Field Director from 2008-2011 and later collaborated with the JBHP as a PhD student at the University of South Carolina. She developed a research program focused on population genetics, including the fine-scale genetic structure of hawksbills nesting at JB and surrounding beaches of Antigua and Barbuda. She is now a visiting assistant professor at Davidson College in North Carolina, where her research program continues to build in exciting directions related to hawksbill genetics.
​
Alexandra Fireman, Research Associate
Alex served as a Field Director for several seasons starting in 2016. She went on to complete a Masters thesis project at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Her research involved an assessment of the diet and foraging strategies of the nesting hawksbills on Jumby Bay using chemical tracers. She is currently a NOAA coral reef restoration management fellow in Saint Croix, but is still closely involved in Antigua.
​
Andrew Maurer, Research Associate
Andy served as Field Director from 2015 to 2017. He collaborated with the JBHP for his PhD research at NC State University, leading projects on themes ranging from satellite tracking, to hatchling sex ratios, and effects of shoreline Sargassum macroalgae. After his PhD, he had a 4-year tenure as a postdoctoral researcher with NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and is now working on the global Blue Corridors for Turtles project. Andy still works closely on JBHP research initiatives.​
​
Carol Guy-Stapleton, Communications Director
Carol served as a JBHP Field Director in 2004 and 2005 with her husband Seth Stapleton. She continues to serve the project by supporting communications initiatives. In her day job, Carol works to accelerate the shift to clean energy while protecting wildlife on the environmental team at Apex Clean Energy. Previously, she was an environmental consultant in Hitachi Consulting’s Sustainability Practice, having earned an MEM in Environmental Economics from Duke University and BSFR in Wildlife from the University of Georgia. She loves laughing with Seth and their three sons Jonah, Leo and Cole.