top of page

Welcome to the Nairn Lab, a genetics lab in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia!

Turtle Logo.jpg

Our areas of research include population, conservation, and landscape genetics. We use genetic tools to understand how populations change across time and landscape, and to improve and inform conservation management.

Lab News

Congratulations to our spring graduates, Rachael Keaton and Rachel Hardegree!

05/15/2021

 

Both Rachael and Rachel graduated this spring from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. They both completed a bachelor's degree in Forestry and Natural Resources with an emphasis in Wildlife Sciences. Congratulations on their accomplishments!

​

 

Congratulations to our fall graduate, Danielle Goold!

12/18/2020

​

 

Danielle graduated this fall from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. She completed a bachelor's degree in Forestry and Natural Resources with an emphasis in Wildlife Sciences. Congratulations on her accomplishment!

​

 

Congratulations to our spring graduates, Zoë Boyles, Krista Campolong, and Olivia Carlson

05/08/2020

Three of our undergraduate student workers graduated this spring from Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. Each of them completed a Bachelor's Degree in Forestry and Natural Resources with and emphasis in Wildlife Sciences. Congratulations on their accomplishments!

 

High Honor Awarded

02/09/19

Great news for the lab! The University of Georgia Sea Turtle DNA Fingerprinting Project has been honored with the 2019 International Sea Turtle Society's President's Award.

​

The project has been ongoing in Nairn's lab in Warnell in Georgia for 11 years and for the Northern Recovery Unit (Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia) for nine years. The project monitors and samples over 1,000 miles of coastline each nesting season.

​

"We recognize the hundreds of volunteers (citizen scientists), wildlife biologists from the State Agencies, and all of our graduate and undergraduate students that have made this project possible and such a success," Nairn said. "Special recognition should go to Brian Shamblin (Warnell) and Mark Dodd (GDNR) for their exceptional efforts in making this project successful."
 

​

 

Congrats to our spring and summer graduates, Hayley and Madeline

07/31/2020

Hayley Tumas has successfully defended her PhD this summer and is now headed to the University of Oxford for a prestigious post doctoral position in forest biometrics. Madeline Siegel has completed her B.S. in Wildlife this past spring and will be headed to South Africa for a year long field study program. 

 

Congrats to our fall graduates, Marissa, Sidney and Jordan

12/15/2017

Three of our undergraduate research assistants, Marissa Howard, Sidney Woodruff and Jordan Raley, graduated from the Warnell School of Forestry with Bachelors of Science. Marissa received degree concentration in Fisheries and Wildlife, and Sidney and Jordan both double majored in Forestry and Fisheries and Wildlife. Congratulations to them on their amazing accomplishments! 

 

Congrats Sam and Tanner

12/16/2016

Undergraduate students Sam Askin and Tanner Forbes graduated this semester. Tanner and Sam both majored in Fisheries and Wildlife. Congratulations to them!

Record loggerhead sea turtle nesting in 2016

08/29/2016

Loggerhead turtles have been busy this summer! 2016 nesting has far surpassed the previous nesting record for the Loggerhead Northern Recovery Unit (GA, SC, NC, North FL), which was just over 8,000 in 2015. This year we've already hit 11,000 nests and expect to reach around 13,000 by the end of the season! 

​

Nesting breakdown by state:


Georgia - 3,258 nests
South Carolina - 6,335 nests
North Carolina - 1,590 nests
Northern Florida - 789 nests

 

Congratulations, Brittany

08/02/2016

Brittany Ferrari has successfully defended her Master's Thesis on population genetics of Canada Warbler.

bottom of page