Dear GTC Members,

I’m excited to serve as the new Junior Co-Chair of GTC alongside Jeff Baker and to help support an organization that I’ve learned so much from over the years. While this is my first official service role with the Council, I’ve been attending meetings since 2018, when I began research on the nesting ecology and translocation of gopher tortoises in collaboration with Elizabeth Hunter as a research assistant professor at Georgia Southern University. I was originally trained as a behavioral ecologist interested in the social lives and invasion ecology of insects, particularly wasps and bees. However, I caught the tortoise bug while searching for nests at Nokuse Land Conservancy’s translocation site in Walton County, Florida, and while diving to hand-capture tortoises at Dave Rostal’s long-term study site on Fort Stewart, Georgia, and I’ve been finding ways to keep tortoises as part of my research life ever since. I’m now a Research Scientist at Virginia Tech and continue to study tortoise translocation and conservation biology at Nokuse and elsewhere, albeit from a bit farther away. I remain continually impressed by the collaborative spirit and welcoming attitude that define GTC and the gopher tortoise research community at large. Together, we’re tackling the formidable challenges facing our favorite keystone species.

Happy Gopher Tortoise Day to everyone on April 10! It’s the perfect excuse to celebrate this amazing ecosystem engineer and raise awareness for the tortoise, the many commensal species that share its burrows, and the upland habitats they all depend on. It’s also a great day to spring for a gopher tortoise license plate if you’re in Florida, or a replica plate to decorate your burrow if you (like me) live outside the range.

I’m also very much looking forward to seeing everyone at the 2026 meeting, November 6–8 at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Jeff Baker has been hard at work making sure we have another fantastic gathering full of gopher tortoise science, conservation, enthusiasm, and general merriment. I hope you’ll join us for what promises to be another great meeting.

Best,

Kevin Loope, GTC Junior Co-Chair