Marta Lyons, Ph.D.

Dr. Marta Lyons is an ecologist interested in what factors influence species’ current geographic ranges and how understanding current population and range dynamics can aid in effective conservation management for the future. She earned her Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the University of Minnesota in 2017. Her graduate research focused on terrestrial, mountaintop salamanders in the Ouachita and Appalachian Mountains using a combination of niche modeling, population genetics, and ecophysiology to predict current and future range limits and the potential for local adaptation. Following her Ph.D., Marta was a Preeminent Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Central Florida working with the National Park Service and university partners to advance understanding of current and future sea turtle nesting ecology. She developed novel methods leveraging large National Park nesting datasets to predict current and future beach availability and nest success for loggerhead and green sea turtles. Through this work, she identified spatial tradeoffs in management practices and barriers to future nest success, collaboratively creating products and tools for use in future management decisions.