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Jeffrey E Lovich, Ph.D.

As a Research Ecologist, Jeff is interested in the interactions of animals and their physical environment. Current research is focused on the ecology of turtles and tortoises and the effects of utility-scale renewable energy development (wind and solar) on wildlife, particularly in the Desert Southwest USA.

Research interests

Jeff has studied the ecology and systematics of turtles and other animals for over 30 years, discovering and naming four of the world’s 356 turtle species, including three in the United States and one in Japan. Other interests include the ecological impacts of invasive species, the ecology and distribution of relict species, and the impacts of human activities (including wind and solar energy development) on wildlife and ecological patterns and processes in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts.

Books

  • Turtles of the United States and Canada (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994)
  • Biological Diversity: Problems and Challenges (Pennsylvania Academy of Science, 1994)
  • The State of the Colorado River Ecosystem in the Grand Canyon (U.S. Geological Survey, 2005)
  • Turtles of the United States and Canada, Second Edition (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009)
  • Turtles of the World (Princeton University Press, 2021)

*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government